I'm With You
by schottzie
Summary: It's Jackie's wedding day and Hyde can't let her go.
1. Chapter 1

Hyde sat with his pounding head in his hands at the Forman's kitchen table. He wasn't sure which was worse-the blinding pain behind his eyes or Red's loud and stern voice in his ears.

"You're going to this wedding whether you like it or not," and for good measure Red pounded his fist on the table. Hyde barely suppressed the groan rising in his throat.

"Red, honey, don't you think it might be best if Steven stayed home instead?" Kitty's sympathetic voice came from the stove, where she was making breakfast. Eggs and bacon-usually one of his favorites but today the smell was close to making him sick. He swallowed-hard.

"No, I don't, Kitty-and here's why. Dumbass here blew his shot with the Burkhardt girl and he needs to face facts. Going to this wedding will be like going to a funeral…"

Kitty shook her head, confused but Hyde silently agreed. Seeing Jackie marry that asshole would most likely be the death of him.

"You have to see the body in order to accept that someone has kicked the bucket," Red elaborated.

"This way, when Steven sees that girl marry someone else, he'll know its over-and it's time to move on".

Hyde's shoulders slumped more than they already were- a fact not lost on Red, who patted him on the shoulder. It was as kind of a gesture as Red Forman allowed himself.

"It's not going to be easy but you need to do this, Son," his voice was quieter and for Red, almost gentle.

Hyde raised bleary eyes to his adoptive father then looked over to Kitty, her hands clenched at her waist.

"Mr . Formans' right, Steven. I'm sorry, honey". She leant down and hugged him. "I know how much this hurts. I wish we could do something…".

"No, its' ok, Mrs. Forman," Hyde returned her embrace. "You and Mr. Forman have a point. I messed up and the sooner I accept it, the better". He stood , face impassive now whereas only an hour ago he had been slumped over the steering wheel of the El Camino, fighting back the nausea caused by a night of hard and desperate drinking. He would deny it until his dying day but the anguish of losing Jackie for good had been what sent him out on a bender in the first place.

He really didn't think it was a good idea for him to go to the wedding but the Forman's didn't ask much of him. Hell, he was still living in their basement. It was the least he could do and besides, he could always duck out of a side door if it got to be too much.

He kissed Kittys' cheek when she handed him a bottle of aspirin then headed downstairs. On the ratty

old couch Fez sat, crying like a baby. Not something Hyde felt up to dealing with right now so he ignored him and went to his room, in the back corner of the basement. Before he had a chance to close the door, Fez was there, wringing his hands.

"Hyde" he blubbered.

"Not now, man" Hyde growled at him.

"But Hyde-I am so sad," the foreigner said.

"Fez, I said not now" and Hyde tried shutting the door but Fez pushed back. Sighing, Hyde relinquished his hold on the door." What is it, man?" he asked, turning his back.

"Today I am loosing my goddess. The beautiful Jacqueline will be forever out of my reach-married to another man who is not Fez".

"Yeah", Hyde hung his head. "Yeah, I know. But it's not like you had a chance with her, man".

Fez stared at him with dark, wounded eyes. "But you did, you son of a bitch. Didn't you?"

Hyde's head shot up and he glared at his friend. "Watch it, Fez. You don't want to go to that wedding with a black eye".

"But Hyde-you can't let Jackie marry that bastard," Fez whined.

"Listen, man-she can marry whoever she wants. I got no say in it it-and neither do you," he shook a warning finger.

Fez stared at him for a minute, until Hyde turned away, rubbing his tired eyes behind his glasses. When he turned back around, Fez was gone.

It was a beautiful late September day. The sun was shining and the sky was that particular shade of blue

you only get during warm fall days in Wisconsin. He had missed this in Africa. The leaves were in full glory-gold, orange and red-reminding Eric of Donnas' hair, which she had recently changed back to its natural vibrant hue. Donna-his best friend-the love of his life-and the most beautiful bridesmaid he'd ever seen. She was crossing the church parking lot towards him, smiling. Before she reached him she did a girly little twirl-the skirt of her dress flaring out to reveal her long, slim legs. It was so unlike her, he had to laugh.

"Hey, Eric. Where are your parents? Jackie and her Mom are going at it and I was hoping Kitty could

help out. Maybe slip Pam a margarita or something, you know".

"They should be here soon. They were waiting for Hyde to get ready. By the way, may I tell you how lovely you look, m'lady?" he kissed her hand-but she didn't seem to notice.

"Hyde is coming? What the hell, Eric!"

"What? Well, yeah. Wait, Donna!' he followed her as she stalked angrily back towards the church.

"I have to tell Jackie. She's going to freak!"

Eric grabbed her arm. "Do we really want the devil freaking out? In a church? Its' blasphemy that she's even in there, let alone…"

"Eric, seriously, I have to tell her. It's not like she won't see him. It's not that big of a church."

Just then the Forman's orange Toyota pulled into the parking lot, a scowling Hyde in the back seat.

"Donna, just wait a minute. Don't talk to Jackie yet, ok ? "

"Ok, Eric, but we've got to do something. This could be a real mess-and I don't want to have to deal with Jackie if her wedding day goes down the toilet".

"Ok-ok-just hold on" Eric hurried over to the Toyota and opened the door for his mother. She kissed

him.

"Oh, honey, don't you look all handsome in your suit. And Donna, what a beautiful color on you!" she laughed, a little nervously as she fussed with her skirt.

"Thanks, Mrs. Forman. I like it. I wasn't sure black was appropriate for a bridesmaid but Jackie said it's very "fashion forward". Whatever that means!" she laughed, mostly to cover Hyde's sarcastic snort as he exited the Toyota. Eric nodded towards Hyde and she took the hint.

"Uh-Mrs. Forman, would you help me with something?" she took the older ladies arm and led her toward the church. Red came around the car. He nudged Eric, "Keep an eye on this one today. I don't want any problems. No drama, got it?" and he followed after the women.

"Yes, sir," Eric nodded-although why his father would decide to show some trust in him today of all days, was beyond him. He glanced at Hyde, who looked paler than usual, and pissed off, as usual.

"Don't worry, Forman. I have no intention of causing any problems. Hell, I have no intention of

staying to see this farce take place. The old man wouldn't let me drive so give me the keys to the Cruiser and I'm outta here".

"What? No way, man. You can't leave. Red would kick my ass!"

"Fine, don't get all twitchy, man. I'll just hoof it. See you," and he started to walk away but Eric grabbed his arm.

"Hyde, don't. Do you really want Red to kick my ass? He's actually been pretty decent to me lately.

Especially now that I'm in school and I'd like to keep it that way".

Hyde smirked " Yeah, it's been pretty quiet since you and Donna left for Madison." He shrugged. "Listen, man. It might be hard to believe but I don't want your Dad pissed at you. Or me either, for that matter. I got my ass chewed once already today. It's just…" he sighed, looking away.

Eric gripped Hyde's shoulder, trying to see past the tinted aviators his best friend-hell, his brother really-

still insisted on wearing.

"Listen, I know this isn't easy but it's not like we didn't know it was coming. Jackie's had her wedding planned since she was ten years old. There was no way she wasn't going to get married someday. It's

all she's ever really wanted, you know." He hesitated for a second, knowing that what he was going to say next was either going to piss Hyde off or hurt him. Neither of which he wanted to do but it needed

to be said. "It's just not going to be you, man". Seeing the pain pass over Hyde's face, Eric tried to make a joke of it-something he did whenever a situation was really uncomfortable. "At least it isn't Kelso she's marrying".

Hyde grimaced, "It might be easier if it were Kelso. That I could accept, I guess. I mean-he was her first and I always kinda thought they'd end up together".

"What? Why would you think that?" Eric demanded, leaning against the trunk of the Toyota. "They were over years ago. No-no-you know they were," he waved off whatever Hyde was going to say.

"What you thought happened in Chicago never did-and you know it. As much as I think Jackie is the

devil in Jordache jeans, she wouldn't have cheated on you.".

"I know, Forman. I know," Hyde shook his head, his curly hair-longer than it had been in awhile, brushed against his collar. He ran a hand thru it. He hadn't put much effort into his appearance lately. Kitty had insisted he shave his porn 'stache off this morning which was ok, since he knew it wasn't a good look on him. It's just that it had irritated the hell out of Jackie-and he liked that. Better she be ragging at him about his facial hair than not talking to him at all. He shook his head-had he really just thought that? Since when was a quiet Jackie not a good thing? Eric was staring at him-waiting for him to say something.

"Listen, Forman-it's just-who is this guy she's marrying? I mean-what do we know about him?"

"Are you kidding, Hyde? We've known him since middle school. It's Jake Bradley, man!" Eric squeaked.

"Settle down, Erica. I know its' Jake Bradley. But what is he like? Does he treat her good?"

Eric's hands started flapping, making him look like some weird kind of featherless bird. "He's Jake Bradley! Who cares how he treats her! You and Kelso treated her like crap-he can't be any worse! Besides he's Jake Bradley! He's the only quarterback Point Place ever had that won state. He was Snow King two years in a row!"

Hyde only shook his head in disgust, even though Eric's comment about how he had treated Jackie stung. "God, Forman-does Donna know? Maybe you should be marrying him. Either way, I'm not staying."

"Come on, you gotta admit it's kind of fitting. Like a cheesy high school romance" Eric went on. "The rich, spoiled cheerleader falls in love with the star QB, who has loved her from afar." Eric sighed.

Hyde felt like throwing up.

"God, Forman. Gush much? And what are you talking about? Jackie barely knew Bradley in school. Other than pep rallies and football games, she probably never talked to him".

"That doesn't mean he didn't like her. He used to ask Donna about her all the time".

"What? When? And how come no one told me? You're saying that jockstrap had the hots for my girl?"

Hyde's fists clenched at his sides, which did not go unnoticed by Eric. Interesting.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. He never hit on her back then-as far as I know. You aren't jealous, are you? I mean, you were it for her-until you came back from Vegas with a wife. I mean, you've moved on, right? Why shouldn't she?"

And there it was- a flash of something –before Hyde lowered his head and Eric couldn't see his face anymore.

"I know. I guess I just didn't think she'd move on so fast. It's weird, you know. Even after everything

that happened-Chicago, Sam, Fez…" Hyde shuddered.

Eric laughed, "Yeah, man. What was that all about? They kissed for the first time on New Years and before the ball dropped, they were over. Guess it was a good thing-what with Fez deciding he swings both ways. Like we couldn't see that coming!"

Hyde actually laughed, "Yeah, the freak. Our first clue was the sex dream he had about Kelso. Spicy food, my ass." His laughter stopped when he remembered that sex dream was what had led him to cheat on Jackie with a nurse. Although, if he had trusted her in the first place, it wouldn't have happened at all. Trust had never been his strong suit.

Silence fell-the two men leaning against the Toyota, warm September sun shining down. Eric really

did'nt care that Jackie was getting married although it was kind of cool that she was marrying Jake Bradley. Maybe they could become buddies. Then again, Hyde probably wouldn't appreciate that. It would be awkward as hell. Still, Jackie and Donna had patched things up and were tighter than ever.

No doubt they would be getting together as couples occasionally.

"Well, it's getting late. I gotta go, man. See you later," Hyde said, putting his hands in his pockets, he

turned away.

"Hyde, wait! The wedding…" Eric called after him. Shoulders slumped, Hyde glanced back. Eric could

barely hear him mutter.

"I can't, man. Just-just tell her I'm sorry for everything-and I hope she's happy".

"Ok-ok-take it easy, man and I'll catch you later," Eric waved but under his breath he murmured, "Like

Hell you want her to be happy with someone else".


	2. Chapter 2

The dressing room in the church basement was thrumming with noise-women's voices rising and falling. Kitty was trying to soothe Pam's nerves. Laurie was arguing with Brooke over little Betsy's hair. Laurie thought it should be teased and sprayed but Brooke insisted that as the flower girl, it should be left in its long braid, decorated with flowers.

"She's three-not thirty," Brooke fumed, comforting her crying daughter.

Donna was trying to help the grooms Grandmother pin her corsage on and in the middle of it all, Jackie sat, staring at herself in the mirror. She was the only one not talking-not that anyone had noticed.

Dispassionately she knew she looked incredible. Her long raven hair was pulled back into a sleek chignon, ready to be topped with the diamond tiara that belonged to Jake's Grandmother. Her "something borrowed". Her long sleeved, white satin gown had a modest, rounded neckline. It looked very simple until you saw the plunging back and how it hugged her rear end. Steven had always loved her rear end.

flashback

She'd always thought Steven liked her legs the best. He preferred it when she wore skirts-but maybe that was because it made for easier access to other parts of her. He was always running his rough, calloused hands up and down her thighs. But during the summer they

got together-when Donna and Michael had gone to California-she found out that he had a thing for her backside, which was kind of weird when so many other parts of her were so

fabulous.

She had decided not to go to over to Eric's basement one especially hot day because the

Forman's didn't have air conditioning and even though the basement was a little cooler and she really wanted to see Steven, a day spent at the city pool sounded so much more refreshing. She called Fez and asked if he'd like to join her. No sense calling Steven. He

hated wearing shorts and he hated the pool. Of course Fez was eager to go. He was still on a mission to see "pool boob" and maybe if he was lucky, "pool boob" would also be

"Jackie boob".

She swatted his hand away when he tried groping her, as she lay on a lounge chair, soaking up the sun. "Stop it" she snapped at him.

"But Jackie, Kelso is gone and I only want to keep you from missing him" Fez whined.

"It is what a good friend would do".

"I don't miss him-the jerk. And you groping me is only going to result in you losing a

hand". She didn't even open her eyes behind her big Jackie Onassis sunglasses.

'Yeah, man. Unless you want to pull back a bloody stump, keep your paws off the cheerleader" a familiar voice growled behind her.

"Steven!" she sat up, whipping off her sunglasses-and almost forgetting she had untied the straps of her bikini top so she wouldn't get tan lines. Fez' eyes got enormous as she made a grab for her top.

"Whoa-that was close!" she laughed, clutching it to her.

"Damn, so close! Now I must try to see someone else's boobs today," Fez pouted, stomping his foot.

Hyde smirked, "Good idea, man. Besides, Jackie's boobs aren't as big as Pam Macy's and she's right over by the snack bar".

Fez' head whipped around-and spotting new prey, he was off. Hyde chuckled and took

his vacated chair. Jackie was pouting up at him.

"What's the matter, doll?"

"Steven, I thought you liked my-boobs," she half whispered, glancing around to make sure no one heard her.

"I do-believe me!" he grinned. "Even if they are a little small."

"I am a petite girl so of course they are small. However, they are in perfect proportion to the rest of me." Her bottom lip plumped out so he reached over and poked it. In a huff,

she flipped over onto her stomach and turned her head away from him.

When he didn't say anything for awhile she peeked over her shoulder at him, thru the veil of her hair. He sat as still as a statue, except for his eyes which were roaming from her pink polished toes to her rear end, barely covered in her bikini bottom, and back again. Interesting, she thought and wiggled her bottom a little. She saw him swallow hard-and a trickle of sweat run down his forehead.

"Steven, could you put some lotion on my back? I don't want to burn," she pleaded.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that," he said but he didn't take his eyes off her.

"Please? I'd ask Fez but the last time I did, he drooled on me. It was so gross!"

"Jackie," he stood up, taking the lotion from her. "How many times do I have to tell you? Don't let Fez touch you. He's seriously perverted."

"I know," she giggled.

He opened the lotion and poured some on his hands before bending down to smooth it over her sleek, warm skin. She watched him covertly and could have sworn his hands shook a little. Then his hands were on her, smoothing the lotion across her shoulders

and down her back. She almost purred, it felt so good. Steven had big, strong hands but they could be surprisingly gentle. He worked his way down to the small of her back and stopped. She waited a minute then wiggled her bottom again, trying not to laugh when she heard his breath catch in his throat.

"Damn, woman-if you don't sop that I'm going to spank you right here in front of all

these kids-and Fez-and half the town." He had just noticed that there were a lot of people here. He and Jackie weren't supposed to like each other yet here he was rubbing oil on her and fantasizing about that it would be like to yank that bikini bottom off and continue lubing her up all the way down her fine ass and firm, toned thighs. Shit, his erection was straining against his jeans and unless he wanted to be the joke of the community pool, he needed to get out of here. Damn if he was going to leave her here though, for all the geeks and pervs to stare at. He grabbed her arm.

"Come on. Jackie. Let's get out of here. Grab your stuff…" he practically growled at her,

starting to cram all her crap in her big straw tote bag.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked but she shoved her pink painted toes into her sandals and wrapped her towel around her waist, which was a relief because if he had to follow her cute little behind all the way to his car he couldn't promise something wouldn't happen right there in the parking lot.

"It's too damn hot here on this cement slab and besides, I know somewhere where we

can actually go swimming without worrying about some kid pissing in the pool."

"Oh, ewww, Steven!" she said, letting him pull her towards the exit. "What about Fez?"

"He can find his own way home. Besides, he probably hasn't filled his pool boob quota today." Hyde practically shoved her in the El Camino, put it into gear and was headed out of town before she managed to slip her t-shirt on over her bikini top.

They spent the rest of that hot August day at the lake, just the two of them. They made love for the first time that day. Sure, they had fooled around a lot but never gone all the

way before. She really, really liked him and he was so sexy with his wet curls falling into his beautiful blue eyes. That sly smirk on his face when he pulled his jeans off and dove into the clear, cool water was her undoing. A little shy, she waded in, arms raised to twist her hair into a knot. He swam towards her and pulled her against him, his big hands clutching her rear. He buried his face against her neck.

"God, Jackie, I thought I was going to lose it at the pool. You have the sexiest ass I've ever seen. I swear it's the best in the Midwest," he kissed her neck when she laughed.

"I couldn't wait to touch it," he had her bikini bottom off and was tossing it toward the

shore before she even realized he had let loose the ties on either side. That was when she

first realized he had a thing for her ass.

Back in the church Jackie wondered if that was why she had chosen this particular wedding gown. It showed off her backside to perfection and Steven would have loved that. She shook her head-why was she even thinking about Steven? She was marrying

Jake Bradley today-one of the most popular boys in Point Place history. He was tall, blonde, handsome, athletic, smart-and he adored her.

When she had gone to register for classes at Point Place Community College last January he had been one of the student counselors. He was in his third year of working towards a business degree. His family owned several sporting goods stores in the Midwest and he

was planning to take them over eventually. Jackie had been happy to see him and he had offered to show her around campus. They had been friendly in school but other than sporting events had no interaction. Now that she was single he jumped at the chance to ask her out and even though she was still hurting from the long, horrible breakup with Steven, she took him up on his offer. Why not? Although Steven's whore of a wife had left she knew there was no chance, even if she had been secretly hoping for it, that she and her ex would get back together. He could barely be civil to her and all he seemed to do was make fun of her, especially when she thought she and Fez could make a go of it. He hurled insults at her with a fierce disregard for her feelings. So, that was it. She decided after a horrible New Years where she and Fez broke up that she needed to get on with her life-and get over Steven.

College seemed like a good start. She took out a student loan and everything seemed to fall into place from there. Her plan was to be an Interior Designer-after all, she had a

knack for it and it interested her. Donna let her decorate her and Eric's apartment in Madison and Mrs. Forman liked it so well she asked Jackie to redecorate her kitchen.

It was time for the harvest gold appliances and orange flowered wallpaper to go. Mrs. Forman loved the job she did and Red was pleased that she kept in within the budget he'd set. She remembered that Steven had reluctantly admitted he liked it when she decorated his dingy bedroom in the Forman's basement.

Her first semester went well-as did she and Jake's relationship. He was sweet and funny.

He made her feel special and like she mattered, which she hadn't felt in a long while.

So when he asked her to marry him, barely six months after they started dating, it was the easiest thing in the world to say yes. He would take care of her and never hurt her.

"Because he can't-because you don't love him" a voice in her head whispered. She closed her eyes, "I'll be good to him. He won't be sorry and someday, I'll love him. I will."

Jackie opened her eyes-she was nothing if not determined. This was the day she was moving on for good. No going back, no more feeling sorry for herself, no more living in the past.

"Donna…" she grabbed her best friends arm.

"Yeah, Jackie?" Donna was looking frazzled but like a good maid of honor, was there to help the bride.

"What time is it? How much time do we have before we need to go upstairs?"

Donna looked at the clock on the wall. "We're ok, Jackie. We have about a half hour. Do you need anything?" She stepped behind Jackie and leaning down, met her eyes in the mirror. Smiling, she gently hugged her. "You look beautiful."

They both teared up. "God, Donna-don't make me cry! But thank you, it means so much to me that you are here. I always dreamt that you would be my maid of honor."

"Even if the groom is someone else?" Donna asked quietly, alert for something-anything-to indicate that no one else but Jake was on Jackie's mind today. And there it was-a spark

of anguish in the beautiful amber eyes.

"Don't-please, Donna," Jackie whispered. "Jake is wonderful. He loves me. He tells me everyday. You don't know how important that is to me. I-I need to hear it."

Donna hugged her again, feeling the loss and pain behind her friend's words. "I know, midget. I know."

They embraced for a few seconds then Jackie patted Donnas arm in businesslike way.

"Ok-so where's Fez? I need him to put my tiara on me. A girl has to look like a princess on her wedding day, right?"


	3. Chapter 3

Hyde cursed under his breath-the dress shoes Mrs. Forman had insisted he wear weren't

exactly made for walking any distance. He'd headed towards downtown when he left the church with one goal in mind. To find a bar and get so wasted that this day would cease to exist. Since this was Wisconsin and there was a bar on nearly every corner, he had no trouble finding one.

If the red Camaro parked on the street looked familiar he thought nothing of it until he saw the owner sitting at the bar.

Hyde hesitated, unsure if he should go elsewhere or find out what the hell Jackie's fiancé was doing slamming shots at a bar instead of greeting guests at his wedding. He looked at his watch. The wedding should be starting in about twenty minutes. Not much time to get Bradley out of here and to the church on time.

"Damn" he muttered under his breath, realizing he was planning on getting involved, which he hated. It wasn't his business. Hell, if Bradley had cold feet who was he to interfere? But curiosity and the thought of Jackie getting stood up at the altar forced him to the bar-and the stool next to Jake Bradley.

"Hey," he said to the bartender. "I'll have a beer and he'll have another shot," he pointed to Jake. While it wouldn't be funny if Jake stood Jackie up it might be hilarious if he showed up to the wedding plastered.

Jake glanced up, "Oh, hey. What are you doing here, Hyde?"

"I could ask you the same thing, man. Aren't you supposed to be getting leg shackled for life to a

screechy little cheerleader right about now?"

Jake slumped further down on his bar stool, sighing. "Yeah, I guess."

Hyde took a long slug of his beer. "You guess? You do realize what Jackie will do to you if you're late. I hope you kept your cup from football, 'cause you're going to need it, man." He chucked, picturing a livid Jackie kicking Bradley in the stones.

"What? Oh, yeah. Jackie has a bit of a temper, doesn't she?" Jake frowned.

Hyde's eyes opened wide behind his shades. "Man, that's like saying ABBA sucks. It's a given. Do you even know Jackie?"

Jake laughed-if you could call the strangled sound stuck in his throat a laugh. Neither of them said anything for awhile. Hyde signaled for another beer. It was nearly half gone before he decided to speak again.

"Look, man-you can tell me to go to Hell if you want but what the fuck are you doing?"

Jake's empty shot glass slammed down on the counter. "I don't know what I'm doing, ok? I thought I wanted to get married. I thought-damn it, I thought she was the one. But now, I don't know. I just don't know."

flashback

They were in Forman's basement and Jackie stood in front of him, hands clutched to her chest, tears in her eyes.

"Please, Steven. Please say anything except "I don't know"," she pleaded.

He saw himself shrugging, staring back at her and saying exactly what she didn't want to hear.

"Then I can't be with you anymore," she said and quietly shut the door behind her.

And now here was another asshole besides himself about to break her heart. The rage rose quickly and white hot in his chest. Jake Bradley might be taller and stronger than him but Hyde had the advantage of surprise as he grabbed the former all state quarterback by the neck and threw him off his barstool, halfway to the door.

"Hey, knock it off. We don't want any of that shit in here," the bartender yelled.

"Don't worry, man. We're outta here," Hyde slammed a ten on the bar then hauled a dazzed Jake out the door.

"Hyde, what are you doing?"

"Give me your keys, man." He thrust his hand out.

"What? Why?" Jake asked but he handed them over.

"Because I'm not going to let you wrap that fancy car around a lamppost on the way to your wedding," he snarled, shoving Jake into the passenger seat of the new, red Camaro. Jake resisted, "Wait-no-I said I don't think I can do this!" he protested.

"I know what you said, asshole. Now Jackie needs to hear it. If you don't wanna marry her, you gotta tell her. Man up," and with that he practically tossed the star QB into the car and ran around to the drivers seat. Sliding in and revving the engine he muttered "Nice," and thrust the

eight cylinder into drive. He spun the car around and headed back down Franklin Avenue towards the church.

Jake started out the window. "Its not that I don't want to marry her. I love her. It's just that I

don't think she loves me. At least not the way you're supposed to love the person you're marrying. I shouldn't be talking to you about this-you went out with her. It's just- I always had a thing for her…"

"Yeah, that's what I heard," Hyde ground out, shooting an angry glare at Jake, who pulled back in his seat a little but kept talking, his voice only a little slurred.

"When I had a chance I asked her out. I couldn't believe she said yes. She seemed so happy when we got engaged but something doesn't seem right. She's never looked at me the way she looks at you."

Startled, Hyde jerked the steering wheel a little. "What do you mean? Jackie doesn't look at me-not if she can help it. She sure as hell doesn't look at me in any special way!"

"Yeah, she does. I don't think she even realizes it. It's just like she used to look at you in high school."

flashback

It was Valentines Day and he and Jackie had just made up after she called Kelso her boyfriend. They were at the school dance-not his favorite way to spend an evening-but she was pressed up against him and she smelled fantastic. He buried his face in her hair and breathed her in. She tipped her head back and smiled at him, her eyes glittering like topazes. She didn't need to say anything-it was there in her eyes. She really had meant it when she said she loved him. The words wouldn't come so he kissed her instead and hoped she could tell how he felt about her.

Thinking back, he knew Bradley was right. There had always been a certain way she looked at him. No matter what was going on he could tell he was the one for her. God, he missed that.

He cleared his throat, "I don't know what you mean but it doesn't matter. You need to tell her if you don't wanna get married."

"I know…I know. God," Jake buried his head in his hands. Hyde hit the gas-this was not his thing-all this talking about feelings. Especially when it concerned his ex-girlfriend and telling her fiancé not to hurt her. If only he had followed his own advice years ago.


	4. Chapter 4

Several guests and members of the wedding party were standing outside of the church when the red Camaro shot into the parking lot. The ceremony was supposed to have started thirty minutes ago and no one seemed to know what was going on. Eric looked around for Donna but most likely she was with

Jackie. Recognizing Jake's car he hurried towards it and was shocked to see Hyde climb out of the

drivers' seat.

"Hyde, while I can appreciate the irony of you stealing your ex-girlfriends fiance's car on their wedding day, it might not be the smartest thing you've done lately," he joked.

"I didn't steal it, Forman. I'm returning it-along with the groom," he said as he went to the other side of the car and yanked Jake Bradley out by his tuxedo lapel.

"Holy crap! Jake, what's going on? Why aren't you inside? Is this why the wedding hasn't started?"

Eric slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. "Oh my God! You were going to ditch Jackie!"

"Settle down, Erica. Jake here just needed some liquid courage. Isn't that right, Bradley? He has something to discuss with Jackie. Right?"

Jake nodded then headed towards the church, shoulders slumped. He turned back to mumble, "Thanks, Hyde".

"No problem, man. Now get in there and remember, duck and cover."

Eric looked back and forth between the two men. Hyde started laughing, "Man, I wouldn't want to be him in about five minutes. Jackie's going to rip his 'nads off-and that's just for starters."

"Hyde, what happened? Why were you driving his car?"

"Sweet ride, isn't it?" Hyde leaned against the Camaro. "He was at Smittys getting shitfaced. Something about not wanting to get married so I told him at least he had to talk to Jackie instead of running out on her."

"Wow, Hyde. That was actually pretty decent of you," Eric said but he was wondering why it was so easy for Hyde to give out advice but not take it.

"Actually it isn't. It's just self-preservation, man. If he took off I figured Jackie would run to me and I'd have to listen to her bitch and moan about the whole damn thing. Like she used to about Kelso," he shrugged.

Eric just stared at him, trying to see behind the smirk. While it was true Jackie always used to turn to Hyde when something bad happened they both knew she hadn't relied on him for a long time. Since he married a stripper, in fact. And maybe even before that, when he couldn't give her the commitment she

was looking for. It still bothered Eric that Jackie couldn't see how crazy Hyde was for her. He just

hadn't been ready to sign up for a lifetime deal.

"Well, this should be interesting. Want to come in and see the show? The Devil versus the Quarterback. Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie. Gee, wonder who wins that one?" Eric chuckled.

"Nah, man. As appealing as it sounds I think I'll just stay out here. Maybe stink up Bradley's car a little bit, if you know what I mean," and he motioned taking a toke.

"Ok, sure but save some for later. I have a feeling we may need it" and with that Eric headed back into

the church, sure that Donna would need help calming Jackie down. Oh, who was he kidding? Donna

wouldn't need his help, although the devil was pretty strong when she was in a rage. Maybe he could throw some holy water on her or get the priest to perform an exorcism. He chucked at the thought of Jackie's head spinning on her neck.

While many of the guests were still seated, whispering and wondering what was going on the basement of the church was eerily quiet. Eric found Donna hovering outside the women's dressing room, biting

her nails and pacing.

"Eric! Thank God! I might need your help hiding Jake's body after Jackie kills him!"

"Are they in there? It's awfully quiet, don't you think? I expected fire and brimstone-and Jake

screaming for his life," Eric half-joked.

"I know! Me, too. It's really weird and it's driving me crazy," her voice dropped to a whisper as she pressed her ear to the door-and had to catch her self from falling when it opened suddenly.

Jake stepped out, pale but composed. He nodded at them and brushed past Donna, who motioned for Eric to follow him. She cautiously entered the dressing room, ready to duck in case something came hurtling at her. Instead she found Jackie sitting in the same chair in front of the mirror, her bouquet

of pink lilies and white roses clutched in her hands.

"Hey, midget, are you ok?" Donna spoke softly, then a little louder when there was no answer. "Jackie?"

Big amber eyes met gray ones in the mirror, shimmering with tears but not crying. She refused to cry. She didn't think she had cried since Steven decided to stay married to the stripper from Vegas-and she wasn't going to start now.

"It's ok, Donna. Well, it's not ok but I'll be alright. It's just-what-what's wrong with me, Donna? Why does every guy I've ever been with not love me enough to marry me? Am I that terrible-that much of a

bitch?"

Donna felt a flash of anger. "First of all, you have to realize that marriage is not the ultimate proof that a man loves you. Plenty of people are in loving relationships without the benefit of a marriage license."

A ghost of a smile passed over Jackie's lips. " Oh, Donna. You and your lesbian crap."

"It's feminism, Jackie-not lesbianism. And it's not crap. Maybe you should try it."

"Feminism? Please, Donna. There's no way I could dress like you-flannel and-"

"No, Jackie. Lesbianism. Since men treat you so badly maybe a woman would be a better choice".

"Oh, eww, Donna" Jackie glanced up and saw the mischief in her best friends eyes. She laughed, thank God for Donna. They had gone thru a rough patch last year but gotten thru it and were closer than ever.

Donna would do anything for her, including trying to cheer her up when her groom called off their wedding. Well, she could play along.

"Since we both know I'm perfect it must be the quality of men here in Point Place. Although I will admit to making bad choices in the past. I mean, seriously-what was I thinking! Michael may be

beautiful but he can't keep it in his pants to save his life. Fez is more of a girl than I am and you just know he is going to end up fat from eating all that candy. And Hyde-who didn't see that ending badly?

He's a scruffy burnout who…" she choked, but looked away from Donnas concerned gaze. "Anyway,

I thought Jake was perfect for me. We're both attractive and ambitious. He said he loved me all the time but I guess… he didn't". She put her head in her hands but no tears came.

"No, Jackie. Jake does love you. He just got cold feet. Remember when Eric left me the night before our wedding?"

"How could I forget? But that's different, Donna. You two are meant to be together. You're soul mates.

Besides, I could never forgive Jake for this. I mean, how am I supposed to live this down? Me-Jackie Burkhardt-left at the altar! It's ok for you and Eric. Everyone knows what a dumbass he is-and you're too good for him anyway."

Donna rolled her eyes. No one was better at a backhanded compliment than her best friend.

"So, what do we do now? What do we tell the guests?" she asked.

"Jake called it off-let him deal with it. He can tell everyone he let the catch of a lifetime slip thru his fingers. He'll be sorry. His Mom and Dad adore me, you know," and she tossed her head.

Only Donna would have noticed the hitch in her voice. Only Donna and maybe one other person.

She leaned down and hugged the little brunette. "I say we go to the reception and get totally wasted! Aren't his folks paying for an open bar? And all that food? No sense letting it go to waste. Fez will be

devastated if he doesn't get any wedding cake."

Jackie smiled a little, "You're right. Why don't you go tell everyone to head over to the reception hall and enjoy them selves."

"What about you? You'll come, right? I'm sure Jake won't show his face-and then you can tell everyone what a jerk he is!"

"Donna, he isn't a jerk. I'm just not the one for him, I guess. But I'll come in awhile. I'm not above being the center of attention."

Donna snorted, "No, really?"

"Really. So, go ahead and I'll be along in a few minutes," she shooed the redhead away with her hands and the glint of her diamond caught the light. Her beautiful, expensive diamond ring. Sighing, she pulled it off and handed it to Donna.

"Here, would you give this to Jake?"

"Sure but since he broke it off, don't you get to keep it?"

"Oh, Donna, you actually read the Miss Manners book I gave you!"

"Donna flushed, "No! Well-maybe, some of it. Are you sure you don't want to keep it? It's gorgeous and it must have cost a fortune."

"It did but I don't want it. What would I do with it anyway?"

Surprised, Donna arched an eyebrow. "Well, you could sell it and go to Paris or somewhere."

"Paris? With all those French people? No, thanks. Point Place is fine with me."

Donna shook her head. Despite her privileged upbringing Jackie was a small town girl at heart.

"Ok, but we could buy a lot of beer and incense with it!" she teased.

Jackie laughed and waved as Donna shut the door behind her. She glanced down at the bouquet

on the table and then at herself in the mirror. Her beautiful dream wedding was just that-a dream.

When would she ever learn?

She couldn't go to the reception. She didn't want everyone feeling sorry for her. Grabbing the bottle of champagne she and Donna had planned on drinking, she cracked open the door and listened. She could hear Donnas gigantic footsteps headed down the hall so she took the stairs that led to the parking lot at the side entrance of the church. She had to get out of here.


	5. Chapter 5

Authors Note: Thank you for the wonderful reviews. As a novice writer I really appreciate them.

I don't own The '70s Show-but oh, if I did! Here we go with Ch.5. Please review!

Hyde lay back in the driver's seat of the Camaro. Bradley hadn't come to claim it and since he was without wheels and waiting on Forman, he was listening to tunes on the radio and enjoying a smoke.

Then he saw her-literally a vision in white-dart out of the side door of the church.

"Man, this must be some good shit," he thought because he had just been imagining what she looked like in her wedding gown-and here she was. She looked like a fairy princess. A very pissed off fairy princess. He had to laugh because he'd been worried she was crying her eyes out yet here she was, practically vibrating with anger and looking ready to fight someone. Hell, it might as well be him.

He tried to ignore the curl of excitement in his gut as he got out of the car. Like a heat seeking missile

she locked on him and headed his way, in a flash of white satin. Something glittered in her dark hair. Was that? He laughed out loud-of course his princess would be wearing a tiara.

"Can you hot wire this car?" she demanded, eyes flashing.

"I could-but I don't need to," and he dangled the keys. "Why?"

She came around the passenger side but before she got in she asked, "Can you drive? I can smell the weed from here."

"Yeah, I can drive."

"Good, then get me out of here," she got in, stuffing her long skirt around her.

"Jackie," he got in but didn't start the engine. Not until he glanced over and saw the strained look on her face. "Yes, dear," he murmured and revving the engine, peeled out of the church parking lot.

He drove for several miles, heading out of town. Jackie stared out the window, not saying a word.

He turned the radio on, fiddling with the dial until he found a disco station she would like. Bad idea, he thought when her hand shot out and she snapped it off.

"Excuse me, Princess. I thought maybe it would cheer you up."

"Don't try to cheer me up! Don't be nice to me or feel sorry for me," she hissed but her eyes glittered with tears, which was always his undoing.

"Jackie, what the hell? I don't feel sorry for you. If anything, I feel sorry for Bradley. Not only has he lost the hottest chick in Point Place but I'm going to beat the hell out of this car," and he hit the gas, tearing down highway 43.

He glanced over at her. She was staring out the window again. God, she looked gorgeous. Her hair was up, exposing her slender neck. He used to love to kiss it-and suck on it-and bite it…

flashback

School had started back up again. One more year and he'd be out of this hell hole. Eric, Kelso and Donna had made it back from California just last week, which was cool but also sucked because it cut into his "alone" time with Jackie. Unless they managed to sneak off somewhere together. She had broken it off with Kelso but no one knew she and Hyde had hooked up over the summer and there didn't seem to be any easy way to tell everyone. He wasn't sure he even wanted anyone to know. It was their dirty little secret and he was enjoying the hell out of it.

In fact, he was looking for her now but trying not to be obvious about it. He hung around the girls' bathroom on the third floor-"the popular" bathroom, she told him. But there was no sign of her so he waited outside her fourth period English class until he remembered Fez was in that class too. He couldn't very well talk to her then. At lunch she sat with the other cheerleaders so he had to watch some of the jocks hit on her, which pissed him off royally. Jackie hadn't eaten eat lunch with them since Donna had gotten in trouble for going to California and her Dad had transferred her to an all girls' Catholic school. She said it would be too weird and Eric might get suspicious.

Hyde cut seventh period and found her out on the tennis court for gym class. She wore a white t-shirt and little green shorts. "Nice," he grinned as he watched her hit the ball expertly over the net. Her

parents had sent her to tennis lessons last summer and she was actually pretty good. But he hadn't been chasing after her all day to watch her run around a tennis court, no matter how hot she looked.

He moved into her line of vision and leaned against the fence. She smiled at him and jogged over.

"Hi, Steven. What are you doing here? Don't you have biology seventh period?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I'll copy Forman's notes. Can you ditch? I wanna talk to you."

She tossed her ponytail-God, she was cute. "Steven, you know I don't ditch class."

"Aw, come on, Jackie. I haven't seen you hardly all week."

"Awww, Steven! Do you miss me?" she leaned forward and batted her eyelashes. Her t-shirt strained across her chest-not that he noticed.

He glared at her. "Pffft-no. No. Just meet me under the bleachers in ten minutes-or don't. Whatever. I don't care," and he stomped off. But he did care and he was relieved when she showed

up. He thought maybe he had overplayed his hand. She came towards him, hips swaying and a smile

on her pink, plump lips.

"Hey," she said. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He ground out his half smoked cigarette under his boot heel and pulled her to him.

"Jackie, since when do we have anything to talk about?" and he pressed his lips against hers, a little

rough because he was kinda pissed that he'd chased after her all day and she didn't seem to care.

But he couldn't stay mad at her. Not when she melted into his arms and kissed him back. The

bleacher's weren't the best place for making out but it was better than nothing and he intended to take

full advantage of the fact that he finally had her alone. His hand crept up under her t-shirt, stroking

her soft skin, moving up to cup one of her small, firm breasts. Her head fell back and there was the opening he'd been looking for-he leaned in and kissed her neck. God, she smelled good and tasted even better. He licked his way up to her jaw then kissed her lips again, all the while teasing her nipple with his fingers.

"Steven, we can't-not here," she gasped against his mouth.

"I know, doll. But we can still have a little fun, ok?"

"Oh-ok," she sighed and clutched his shoulders when his lips trailed back down her neck and he lightly bit the sensitive flesh of her collarbone, then soothed it with his tongue.

It must have been a good half hour that they kissed and groped each other under the bleachers, stopping only when the bell signaling the end of the school day rang. She pulled away, eyes a little dazed.

"Oh, my God! I totally missed eighth period. I'm going to be in so much trouble!"

"Relax, doll," he murmured against her neck, sucking and licking it until her knees nearly gave way. She

weakly pushed him away, shaking her head and a finger at him.

"You! You are a bad influence, Steven Hyde!"

He smirked and made a grab for her. "That's what you like about me, babe. Come on, admit it. You wanna be bad."

She tried to glare at him but it turned into a sly little grin instead. "Maybe, but you'll just have to wait and see how bad I can be, Steven". Then she was off, ponytail bouncing and her tight little rear taunting him.

He wondered how "bad" she'd feel when she got a look at the quarter sized hickey he'd made on her

neck. Of course, she was furious. She had to cover it with makeup and scarves until it faded. She wasn't supposed to have a hickey, she screeched at him, because she wasn't dating anyone. Besides, only

trashy girls like Pam Macy or Lori Forman had hickeys. In retaliation, she gave him a big one the next time they made out-and he didn't stop her. He liked the sharp, stinging sensation of her soft lips sucking on his neck.

The difference between them was that he wore it proudly. When the guys teased him about it in the basement he just grinned and refused to tell them who gave it to him. Damn, it was fun to watch Jackie squirm.

"Next time, doll," he whispered in her ear, "Put it someplace where no one can see it."

She turned bright pink, which made Donna look at them suspiciously.

God, he thought as the Camaro flew down the highway, what he wouldn't give to kiss and suck on her

neck –and other parts of her-right now.


	6. Chapter 6

"So, where are we going?" Hyde asked, tearing his eyes away from her.

"I don't care-just drive," she snapped.

He half-smiled, now that sounded like his Jackie. So he drove several miles out of town and down an old gravel road. He put the Camaro into park and cut the engine. The sun was just stating to set across

the lake. Pink and gold rays of light reflected off the clear blue water. It was beautiful, but not nearly as beautiful as the girl getting out of the car and walking towards the pier several yards away.

He got out to follow her then noticed the bottle of champagne she'd brought along. "What the hell," he thought and grabbed it.

She was standing at the edge of the old wooden pier, staring at her reflection in the still water. He opened his mouth to tell her how beautiful she was, although it wasn't something he had ever done often. Maybe he should have but before he could get the words out, she was raising her arms and pulling the pins out of her hair. It fell in a sleek dark wave down her bare back. God, that dress was amazing. It hugged her ass perfectly. He was so busy staring at it that he barely registered her carefully taking the diamond tiara off-and hurling it into the lake. His mouth fell open.

Then she was tugging almost frantically at her dress, unzipping it and stepping out of the white satin until she stood in only her high heels and a pair of tiny silk panties. His mouth dropped open even more

and a bug promptly flew in, choking him. Gasping for air he popped open the champagne and took a long swallow. That's what he need-that and a camera so he could capture the unbelievable sight in front of him. Who the Hell was he kidding? The sight of a near naked Jackie framed against a glorious setting sun was not something he would ever forget.

He took another drink of the luke warm champagne and just stared at her. She hadn't looked at him at all. She kicked off her shoes then turned towards him. He swallowed hard at the sight of her perfect

breasts, taut stomach and firm thighs. Suddenly she took a few steps towards him then spun around and ran back along the pier. Arms raised she dove into the lake with barely a splash.

"Holy shit," he ran to the end of the pier, searching for her frantically with eyes wide behind his aviators. He was glad he was wearing them because the sun was shining so brightly off the water it made it hard to see. He heard the splash before he saw her, rising out of the water like some kind of freakin'

water nymph, jet black hair trailing over her shoulders and down her back. Her wet panties were

sheer now and clinging to her like a second skin. God, she was incredible. Jake Bradley was a fucking

fool.

"Can I have some of that or were you planning on drinking it all yourself?" She stood before him now, holding out her hand for the champagne bottle. He handed it to her. She raised it to her lips and tilted

her head back, taking a long swallow. There was his opening, just like that day under the bleachers so long ago. Her long neck exposed to his gaze, he wanted so badly to kiss her but he couldn't move.

She lowered the bottle and went to sit at the edge of the pier, swinging her slender legs over the edge.

"Stare much?" her voice floated back to him. He made himself move to join her.

"Christ, Jackie. Can you blame me? You jumped in the lake. You're all wet and naked-and amazing."

She shot him a look over her shoulder. "I am amazing but I'm not naked. Not quite anyway."

Damn, was she flirting with him? It was hard to tell sometimes with her, it was so ingrained in her personality. Some people were born flirts and Jackie Burkhardt was one of them. He had once told her she probably came out of the womb batting her eyelashes at the doctor who delivered her.

They sat in silence for awhile-she in only her panties and he in serious pain from the erection pressing against his thigh-passing the champagne back and forth between them.

Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore she sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Do you remember the first time we came here together?" she asked.

"Of course I do. Veteran's Day-our first date," he smiled. They had come back here many times, usually to make out but that November Day when they had shared their first kiss-slow, gentle- was the one that came to mind. It hadn't necessarily been when they began but it was when he realized that the pretty little loudmouthed cheerleader was something special.

"Hey," he nudged her and she looked up at him. He didn't know why it seemed important now but he

wanted her to know. "I lied that night-you know-when we kissed. I did feel something."

"I know," her smile was soft.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, yeah? How do you know?"

"Because I lied too," she whispered. and pulled his arm around her shoulders, like she did that night.

The difference now was that his fingers brushed her naked skin and there was a lot of history between them. Some of it bad but most of it pretty fucking fantastic. He had never loved a girl as much as he had loved her.

And there it was-he loved her. He didn't feel the panic that used to claw at him back then, just a strange kind of peace. He had fought it and denied it but the truth was-he still loved her.


	7. Chapter 7

Even though it had been a warm day the temperature started dropping pretty quickly once the sun set. Jackie shivered a little and moved closer to Steven. Without saying anything he pulled off his suit coat and draped it across her shoulders. He'd always been considerate that way. Michael couldn't be bothered to remember she was with him half the time, let alone think of her comfort. Jake was polite but he had been raised to be. Steven, who'd been treated like crap by his parents and then left on his own, had always been a gentleman. It was just part of his nature and one of the many things she loved about him.

Jackie Burkhardt may once have been a starry eyed teenager but having your heart broken over and over again had a way of making you grow up fast. By the time she was twenty she had learned life wasn't easy and love didn't always last forever. But she wanted so badly to believe it did.

Sitting next to her ex-boyfriend, his arm around her shoulder, listening to the crickets and the far

off traffic from the highway, she knew that for her there was no one else. She was a fool to think

Jake or anyone else could ever take Stevens place. When the sun dropped below the horizon she found herself doing the one thing she swore she would never do again. She cried for them and everything

they had lost.

flashback

Hyde was trying to watch the game. The Packers were actually making a comeback in the fourth

quarter against the Bears but Jackie was being a real pain in the ass. She kept yammering on and on

about being over him and moving on, even going so far as to flirt with the two half wasted assholes sitting behind them.

When she stomped off –again-he was just pissed enough to follow her. He stopped short when he saw her leaning against a pillar, her little frame shaking with sobs. His heart plummeted. God, it seemed

like all he ever did anymore was make her cry. He knew she wanted more from him but he figured it was just her pushing like she always did. Maybe if she had a job or college to look forward to she wouldn't have gotten so dependent on him for her happiness. But her Dad had used her trust fund on lawyers in a vain attempt to get his jail sentence for bribery reduced and Pam had taken what little was left for another drunken excursion to Mexico. Once again she was living in her parents' house alone,

even though it was up for sale. He knew she got lonely. Sometimes she would stay with Donna or sneak in to sleep with him.

For as long as he'd known her she had talked about getting married and having kids. When she was with Kelso it was annoying. When she was with him, it was downright scary. He never figured he'd get married. It just wasn't his scene and God, they were both so young. What if they got married and ended up like their parents? So he blew her off when she pushed for a commitment and most of the time she'd let it go. Not this time though. He hadn't figured she would break up with him. Pout, throw things, kick his shins-yeah, but not break up with him. It pissed him off. Why couldn't she be happy with things the way they were? So he ignored her taunts and tirades and waited for her to come around. She always did but now, seeing her cry and not care that so many people could see her, he wondered if he had screwed things up for good this time. Would it be so hard to tell her he wanted

to be with her? That when he thought of the future-which wasn't often-they were together. He hated

to see her cry-it tore him up then and it tore him up now.

"Jackie, come on, don't cry," he whispered against her hair. "It'll be alright. Jake will realize what an idiot he was and everything will work out."

Her shoulders shook even harder and feeling helpless, which he hated, he pulled her against his chest and stroked her still damp hair. He held her for a long while, until her sobs faded away. He gently tilted her chin up, looking into her big wet eyes.

"Listen, doll-you and Jake will be ok-"

She put her finger against his lips. "Sshh" she silenced him and he flashed back to that Veterans Day on the hood of her Daddy's Lincoln. He pushed his lips against her finger and she smiled, a little sadly.

"There is no me and Jake anymore. There never should have been."

"What do you mean? You were going to marry him. At least, I think that's what the church and white dress were all about." He pulled back to look at her more fully in the face, which was a mistake because his jacket hung open on her little body and he could see skin all the way down to the waist of her barely there panties. Soft, smooth, flawless skin. He swallowed and forced himself to look up, into her equally flawless face.

"Yes, but it would have been a huge mistake. I'm glad he realized it and called it off," she said. "I

don't think I would have had the nerve."

"Jackie, what the hell? Why would you even think of going thru with it if you weren't sure?" He was pissed now and moved away from her.

She looked him straight in the eye, "Because I didn't want to be alone and he was good to me. He

took care of me-"

He waved his arm towards the Camaro. "Yeah, I'll bet. New cars, fancy dresses, freakin' diamond tiaras. Just what every girl needs," he snarled, stalking to the other side of the pier.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she snapped. "I learned a long time ago that, while nice,

money doesn't mean anything if you don't have someone to share it with," her voice broke and his anger faded as quickly as it came.

"Jesus, Jackie, don't cry anymore. He's not worth it," he crouched down and reaching out, tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm not crying for him," she whispered but there was an edge to her voice. Looking in her eyes he knew then that she was crying for them-and what could have been.

"Jackie," he breathed and touched his lips gently to hers.


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Note:

This chapter is quite a bit longer and finally, quite a bit smuttier-is that a word? Not really sure if

it deserves an M rating but just to be safe…

I hope you are enjoying this-should be about 14 chapters in all. How am I doing? Please read and review.

He expected the flash of heat that shot thru him. Kissing Jackie had always been like getting caught in an electrical storm. The hair on his arms stood on end and his nerves danced under his skin. But he hadn't expected the sensation that spread thru his chest, in the region of his heart. It wasn't a physical reaction so much as something else. It was like the feeling of coming home after being away a long time.

Her heart was pounding hard and erratically. It seemed like so long ago and yet it felt like just yesterday that they had kissed. She had missed it so much yet his firm lips over hers were as familiar and comforting as her own heartbeat.

He reached out and pushed his fingers into her hair, dry now and as smooth as silk. Her hands came up to his face and they kissed until they were both short of breath, tongues tangling and sliding against each other. When they pulled apart she rested her head on his shoulder and they sat quietly, both wondering if this was wrong. After all, she had almost married someone else today.

flashback

Eric and Donna had just found them making out on the Forman's ratty old couch and were going on and on about how wrong it was. Kelso was going to freak out and they were "creepy and unnatural" together. Hyde glanced over at Jackie. She looked upset. He hoped she wasn't having doubts about them, 'cause he had no intention of quitting her. He would deny that she was his girlfriend to anyone who would listen but that didn't mean he didn't want to be with her.

Forman might think she was the devil and Donna thought they were just too different to work but he knew better. Sure, she was

shallow and immature but she was also funny and warm hearted.

Not to mention, hot as hell. He didn't even mind that she was bitchy. In fact, it kind of turned him

on, not to mention that it kept him on his toes.

Of course, Kelso did freak out when he found out about them but only because he wanted Jackie

for himself-the cheating asshole. Fez, while initially upset for Kelso and maybe himself, accepted

it pretty quickly. For him, it came done to basics and there was nothing more basic than sex. He

thought they were sexy together and other than candy-and his own right hand-there was nothing he liked better.

Mrs. Forman thought they were adorable together and Mr. Forman liked the Burkhardt girl. She

was the only one of his sons' dumbass friends who knew her way around an engine and she kept

his foster son in line- most of the time. Steven had it rough growing up but he was a good kid and it didn't take a genius to see the little cheerleader was crazy about him.

Jackie's snobby cheerleader friends couldn't believe she was going out with a burnout like him.

She knew they were all secretly jealous because he was so sexy, she told him. "Of course I am,"

he smirked.

His dirt bag friends-the ones he hung out with behind the gym or got his stash from, knew better

than to razz him about her. He had no problem decking anyone for calling her a rich bitch. Besides,

she could give as good as she got. Just another thing they had in common and that he thought was

hot.

Her parents weren't really an obstacle, even though she was a Daddy's girl. Her socialite Mother

was always on vacation so she was never around. Vacation from what, Hyde wondered. Her Dad

initially disapproved of them going out but when found out that Hyde lived with the Forman's he backed off. Red Forman was the toughest s.o.b. in Point Place. This Hyde kid couldn't be too

bad if Red Forman took him in. Besides, almost anyone was better than that doofus Michael Kelso.

Then Jack Burkhardt went to jail and there was no one from her family to object to their dating.

On paper it shouldn't work and sometimes it didn't. Usually because she got too demanding or

he got too jealous. She would try to manipulate him and he would resist or do something stupid.

Yet for all the reasons it shouldn't work there were twice as many reasons why it did work.

They had both forgotten that during the shitstorm that had been last year. Sitting here at dusk

at the one place where they could be together with no bullshit, no drama it all came back to him.

Jackie pulled away and he watched her stand up. His suit coat hung halfway down her firm thighs

and covered her slender hands. She shrugged it off and it fell to the pier. She stood there in

her tiny silk panties, a soft smile on her lips and an invitation in her eyes he'd never thought to see again.

She saw his eyebrows rise above his aviators so she reached out and took them. Turning slightly,

she pitched them into the lake, in the same direction she'd thrown her tiara earlier.

"Jackie, what the hell!" he scrambled to his feet. She slipped her arms around his waist and

his attention was diverted back to her. She looked up at him, a light in her beautiful exotic

eyes and he was caught up in her again.

"I promise not to act like a spoiled princess if you promise not to hide behind those damn

sunglasses anymore,' she teased, her head tilted in that adorable way she had.

"Well, I can't very well do that now, can I? Seeing as they're at the bottom of the damn lake,"

he grumbled and she giggled.

"I'm the one who should be upset," she said. "I threw a diamond tiara in the lake and it wasn't

even mine!"

They both started laughing. He grabbed her waist. "Damn, Jackie. That was so badass" and he

kissed her long and hard. "Steven," she whispered his name. God, he loved it when she said his name.

When they were kids she called him Hyde like everyone else did. Adults tended to call him

by his first name but he always introduced himself as Hyde. When Jackie was crushing on him-which he kinda hated-

she started calling him by his first name-which he kinda dug. Not that he

ever told her that. She had a hundred different ways of saying it but he liked the way she was

saying it now the best. Soft and sexy with that little pleading sound to it.

"Yeah, doll?" he buried his face in her hair.

"It's a beautiful night. Aren't you kind of warm in all those clothes?"

He grinned, "Hell,yeah" and stepped back to take his clothes off, with her assistance. Her

nimble little fingers pulled his tie off, then his belt, all the while pressing soft kisses along

his jaw. When he tried to step out of his dress shoes she murmured "Let me" and went on her

knees in front of him. His breath hitched when, after slipping his shoes and socks off she

reached for the zipper of his pants.

flashback

They were alone in the basement and bickering about something, which wasn't that unusual

except that he was pushing her buttons a little more today. When he threw the "get off my

boyfriend" incident in her face, she folded her arms across her chest.

"What do I have to do to get you to stop bringing that up?" she demanded.

He grinned. That devilish smirk she both loved and hated. Today she hated it.

"I'm not doing that" she snapped, tossing her hair.

"Then I'm going to keep bringing it up!"

She glared at him for a few minutes and then shocked the hell out of him when she stood

up and grabbed his hand.

"Fine then! Come on," she pulled him towards his bedroom in the back of the basement. He

opened his mouth to question her then shut it quickly. Damn if he was going to object.

"Are you serious?" he had to ask when she pushed him into the room and shut the door.

"Yes, I'm serious. You've been bugging me for weeks now. So, come on, get your pants

off."

When he wasn't quick enough for her she started tapping her foot. Damn, she was hot when

she was mad. He kicked off his boots and pulled his pants down. She shoved him on to his

cot and stood there looking at him. It felt kind of weird to have her acting all businesslike

about it but what the hell. He wanted to see how far she would go and damn, if she didn't

drop to her knees in front of him.

Her hand was on him, grasping his rock hard dick thru his boxers. He gasped, she was being

a little rougher than usual. Maybe a pissed off Jackie handling his junk wasn't the best idea.

"Lay down," she commanded but he had to challenge her on that.

"I'd rather watch, if you don't mind," he grinned, pulling his glasses off and throwing them

on the milk crate he used as a bedside table. Meeting his laughing blue eyes she flushed.

"Fine-ok, then," she said and tucked her hair behind her ears. Something she did when she

was nervous. "Could you?" and she motioned to his boxers.

"Of course," he said magnanimously and pulled them down and off. His dick stood up like it

was spring loaded . She flinched as if she'd never seen it before-well, she definitely hadn't

seen it that close up before.

He had to keep himself from laughing, which suddenly wasn't so hard when she grabbed

his balls and twisted.

"Christ, Jackie. Be careful," he gritted thru his teeth.

"Oh, sorry. Is this better?" she asked and pressed her soft lips against him.

"Yeah, that's better," he sighed and watched her little pink tongue dart around his cock. Her

hand gripped him a little too tightly. She took a deep breath, like she was going underwater,

and raising herself up a little, plunged her mouth over him. Her teeth tore at his sensitive skin

and he couldn't help it. He yelped.

"Shit, Jackie. That hurt," he half shouted at her.

She sprang to her feet, hands clasped over her mouth. "Oh God! I'm sorry!" she said. "Don't

yell at me! I've never done this before!"

"Christ, you gotta take it easy," he was checking for blood. Luckily there wasn't any. "Wait.

You've never done this before?"

He looked up at her. She had tears in her eyes and was shaking her head.

"No. I never –I don't know how. God, baby. I'm sorry. Are you ok?"

"Yeah-yeah, I'm ok," he muttered. Another one of Kelso's lies. He should have known. That

jerk thought he was such a sex machine. What did he call himself? The space rocket of love

or something moronic like that. God, what an imbecile. It made Hyde wonder how many

other lies Kelso had told about Jackie.

She was still standing over him, eyes wide. He hadn't meant to yell at her. It wasn't her

fault.

"Come here, doll. It's ok," he said softly and pulled her onto his lap, which might have

been a mistake because as soon as her tight little ass touched his dick it jumped to attention

again. That gave him other ideas.

"Look, we don't have to do that. There's plenty of other stuff we can do," he murmured

against her neck. She snuggled against him.

"No, I want to try it. I know you want me to…"

"Listen, Jackie. We don't have to do anything you don't want to," he soothed.

"Really? You won't break up with me if I don't do-that?"

"What? Hell no! Where would you get a stupid idea like that? Wait, let me guess. Kelso.

Remind me to kick his ass the next time I see him," he shook his head, disgusted.

She laughed, a little relieved. Michael had always tried to make her feel bad if she didn't

want to have sex or try something different. Sex with Michael hadn't been all that great.

Not like it was with Steven-and he really was sweet to her, when it mattered.

He watched all this play across her pretty face. He loved that she was so animated and

enthusiastic about stuff but he wasn't ready for what came next. She put her arms around

his neck, a serious look on her face.

"Steven?"

"Yeah, doll?"

"You know how much I love it when you –you know, do that to me? Down there?" she

blushed .

"You mean when I go down on you?"

"Steven!" she shrieked then hid her face against his neck. He chucked and proceeded to

tell her everything he had ever heard it called, from "eating at the Y" , to a "box lunch", to

"giving face". By the time he was finished-a good five minutes later-she was nearly

hyper-ventilating. Whether from shock or laughter he couldn't tell but she seemed more

relaxed.

"Steven, I read this article in Cosmo…"

"Jackie, Cosmo is porn for housewives."

"Cosmo is full of interesting information, Steven. Don't make fun of it! Anyway, they had

this article on, you know. How to do-how to…" she fluttered her hands nervously, embarrassed

but determined.

"Give head?" he teased and leaned away from her slap.

"Yes-that-but they called it something else. Something Italian. Fel-flet-fettuccine, or something."

Hyde fell back on the cot and bust out laughing. Blushing furiously she climbed over him and

covered his mouth with her hand.

"Stop it! Stop laughing? You know what I mean!"

He must have laughed for five minutes straight. Finally, gasping for air and wiping his eyes he

looked up at her. She was leaning over him, her beautiful amber eyes glowing with laughter and

that something else he knew was just for him. She kissed him, long and softly and afterwards, he could barely breath. They smiled at each other.

"I love you, Steven. Will you let me show you how much?"

He nodded, unable to speak. He felt so overwhelmed by her feelings for him-and his for her.

And yeah, he was excited too.

"You won't laugh at me?"

He shook his head, and he didn't. Although they did laugh together. Once when she caught her

hair on his ring and again when he banged his head on the frame of the cot.

It wasn't the best encounter they'd ever had, simply because it was a lot of trial and error but

it was good. Really good. Especially when he told her what he liked in a low raspy voice that

sent shivers up her spine. She was a quick learner, his grasshopper. Hands tangled in her long

black hair his head fell back as he tried to hold on. He didn't think she was ready yet for him

to cum in her mouth. He didn't know if that was something a princess like Jackie would ever

be ready for but when he moaned her name and pushed on her shoulders, she shook her head.

She latched onto his ass and took him even deeper into her warm wet mouth. He groaned and

gave up the fight.

After catching his breath he pulled her up his body and kissed her hard, although she tried

to turn away, shy now. As they lay on his cot in his dank basement bedroom, her head on his

chest she whispered, "I can feel your heart beating."

"Of course you can. That was fucking amazing, doll," and he kissed her forehead. "You can

give me fettuccine anytime."

She laughed and snuggled against him. It became a joke between them. He would ask if she

wanted to get Italian for dinner or she would wonder what kind of wine went with fettuccine. If

their friends were around they would ask what was so funny. They would just smile at each other and leave

the room together, laughing.

Kneeling on the pier, Jackie slowly pulled the zipper of Steven's pants down and looked up

at him. He was staring at her, his blue eyes dark with desire. She might be making a mistake

but she didn't think so. If she was, she'd live with it. She was a lot stronger than she used to

be. If she had Steven only for tonight, she would remember it forever-and make sure that he

did too.


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Note: Here we go with Ch. 9. Things are heating up-hope you enjoy!

I don't own the '70's Show –just having fun with the gang! I live for reviews!

Not sure what's up with my spacing-hope it isn't too distracting.

In the waning light Jackie slowly pulled Steven's pants down, then his boxers, running

her hands around to his firm, muscular ass. She pressed her cheek against his taut stomach,

letting out a little sigh as she kissed him. Her lips drifted down, soft and warm against

him, then around him. She smiled to herself when he jerked a little and groaned. She licked

and sucked-sometimes fast, then slowly. Gently fondling his balls and stroking his engorged

shaft, just the way he liked it. When he moaned her name in that low, husky tone she loved

she tightened her grip and pulled him a little further into her mouth. God, she loved doing

this to him-for him. After, she kissed her way up his stomach, his chest and neck to meet

lips hungry for her. He pulled her tight against him.

"God, Jackie. That was incredible," he murmured in her ear. His big hands slid down her

back then cupped her ass. "Now it's your turn, doll."

flashback

It was her senior year and it just wasn't what she had hoped it would be. Sure, she was as

popular as ever-honor roll, head cheerleader, homecoming court. But she felt like she was

on her own. Everyone from the basement-Eric, Donna, Michael, Fez and Steven-had all

graduated last year.

She hung out with the other cheerleaders and where there were cheerleaders, there were

jocks but she wasn't interested in any of them. She was Steven's girl but sometimes she

wondered if he was as into her as she was him. She was on the homecoming court and

might be crowned queen at the dance tomorrow night but she had to beg him to agree

to go with her.

She still didn't know if he was coming to the football game tonight. Most of the time he

did but sometimes he would just pick her up afterwards and they'd hang out in Eric's

basement. She really hoped he would be there tonight.

It was a chilly October night and they were playing the Kenosha Wildcats. The football

team hadn't been very good since all state quarterback Jake Bradley graduated two years

ago so they didn't really expect to win. But it was homecoming and spirits were high so

Jackie was ready to cheer her butt off for the Point Place Vikings.

As the cheer team lead the players on to the field, shaking their pom-pons and yelling, she

scanned the crowd for Steven. "Go Jackie!" she heard Michael yell. He had always

supported her but that was probably so he still had an in with the other girls on the squad.

Fez was there, not two steps away from Michael and scarfing down a corndog. He winked

at her, mouth too full to speak. Eric and Donna were there, arms around each others waists.

"Where's Steven?" she mouthed at her best friend. Donna shrugged, raising her huge hands

palms up.

Some of her enthusiasm waned. She'd still give it her all but it wouldn't be as much fun.

Knowing her boyfriend was in the crowd watching always gave her kicks more power and

her jumps more height.

The game was close with Point Place actually pulling an upset and beating the Wildcats,

who had been in first place in the conference. The fans on both sides were rowdy and when

it was over there was a mass exodus for the exit. Dozens of students crowded around the

gate, cheering and shoving. Some of them were pretty trashed and razing each other.

Hyde was at the gate, waiting for Jackie. Eric and the others passed him, cheering and laughing.

"Hyde, where were you? You missed a hell of a game!" Eric yelled, voice high pitched

with excitement.

"Yeah, man. Jackie looked really hot!" Kelso leered so of course Hyde punched him in

the shoulder.

"Yes, my goddess was amazing! Her kicks were so high I could see her panties!" Fez

rubbed his hands together. Donna saved Hyde the bother by slapping the foreigner

upside the head.

"Fez, you are such a perv," she laughed as the football team rushed by, followed by the cheerleaders-minus one loud little brunette.

"Where's Jackie?" Hyde shouted to his friends, who had been shoved aside by several

drunk Kenosha students. Kelso yelled something but Hyde couldn't hear him. He looked

back inside the stadium and saw her at the far end of the field, surrounded by a group of

guys. Damn, here he was waiting for her and she's flirting with a bunch of jerks, who

ought to know she was his girl. As he shoved his way past the gate he realized these

assholes wouldn't know because they were wearing Wildcat blue and gold. Guess he

would just have to let them know she was taken-with a friendly inter-conference

smack upside the head.

Then he saw them circle her, like a pack of wolves around a baby deer separated from the

herd. One of then grabbed her arm and another one grabbed her ass. Even from this distance

he could hear her shriek. He almost grinned when she kicked one of them in the shin.

"That's my girl," he thought.

But the guy was pretty big and she was wearing tennis shoes. The one with a hold of her

arm started pulling her and the other two followed as he dragged her towards the bleachers.

Hyde's blood ran cold. He didn't want to yell and let them know he was coming. Better he

have the element of surprise, considering there were three of them. He broke into a run when they shoved her behind the bleachers. He saw her fall and then the big guy was on top of

her.

Thank God his girl had a set of lungs on her because she was screaming her head off and

they never heard his boots crunch on the gravel. He launched himself at one of them

sending him flying into the second guy. They both hit the ground hard. Before either of

them could react Hyde was grabbing the guy on top of Jackie by the collar and yanking

him off her. He could smell the booze on him.

All of a sudden someone flew by him. Kelso. The guy might be an idiot but he always

had your back. Hyde threw the big guy against the metal scaffolding of the bleachers

and went at him with fists clenched. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fez helping

Jackie up and Donna, God bless her, was kicking one of the guys on the ground with her

size ten feet. He wondered where Forman was-figures the wimp wouldn't want to get

involved in a fight but then he had to duck the punch thrown at him and he forgot

everything except beating the crap out of this mother fucker.

It didn't take long. Yeah, the guy was big and strong but Hyde was quicker and fueled

by rage. No one touched his chick. No one. He absorbed a few blows but hardly felt

them he was so intent on messing this guy up good. He landed a hard right and saw blood

spurt from the guys nose.

"Shit," the guy groaned, stumbling back. Hyde followed but someone grabbed his arm.

It was Forman, yelling his name. Hyde easily jerked away, determined to finish the job

but a strong pair of arms encircled his waist and swung him around. Security. That's

where Forman had been-he wouldn't fight but he would get security to help.

"Let me go, man" Hyde growled at the burly guard. "This asshole attacked my girlfriend."

" Ok-ok. Ease up, buddy. I think you got him pretty good," the guard said and Hyde saw

that another guard was standing over the guy he'd punched, who was trying to stem the

blood flowing from his broken nose. Kelso had the second guys arms pinned behind his

back and Fez, looking scared shitless, was sitting on the third guy-the one Donna had

kicked the crap out of.

"Where's Jackie? Jackie!" he yelled. He couldn't see her anywhere. Then she popped

her head up from where it had been buried against Donnas chest. Donna let go of her

and she flew into his arms.

"God, baby, are you ok?" he held her tight. She was shaking like a leaf but she wasn't

saying anything and that's when he knew she was scared out of her mind. It took a

lot to shut Jackie up and he'd only ever found two things that did it. One was when he

kissed her senseless and the other was when she was scared to death.

She was plastered against his chest so he pulled her away a little and looked at her face.

Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail and her eyes were huge. Her top was torn, exposing

her bra strap. He felt white hot fury rise in him again but she sensed it and clutched at

his waist. Eric saw it too and gripped Hyde's shoulder.

"We got this, man. Why don't you get on out of here?"

Hyde could see Kelso talking to the security guards, two off duty cops he knew from

the force. Donna stepped up and hugged Jackie gently.

"Yeah, get her home and take care of her. We'll make sure these douchebags get

whats' coming to them. I'll call you tomorrow, Jackie."

Hyde nodded and cleared his throat. "I had 'em, you know. But- thanks, guys."

"Yeah, sure. We know," Eric smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow. Take care, Jackie."

It was another sign of Jackie's distress that she didn't notice Eric's kindness. She wasn't

his favorite person but he felt bad for her. She might be a spoiled princess but she

didn't deserve this- no one did. Clinging to Hyde, she let him lead her out of the

stadium.

Halfway to his car he scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. He leaned

across to fasten her seat belt but she shook her head and sat as close to him as she could

without being in his lap.

"Ok-ok," he kissed the top of her head. "Let's get out of here."

He didn't want to go to the Forman's. Mrs. Forman would want to fuss and bandage

his raw bleeding knuckles. Red would demand to know why he hadn't killed the sons

of bitches. Not that he hadn't wanted to-hell, he was afraid to think of what he would

have done if his friends hadn't shown up. He'd be sitting in jail right now and that

wouldn't do anyone any good. Especially Jackie.

So he took her to her parent's house, even though she didn't like going there anymore.

At least they could be alone there. Her Dad was doing three to five for bribery and God

know's where Pam was. Sunning herself and picking rich men's pockets somewhere

south of the border.

He picked the lock on the front door, all while she clung to his arm. He ushered her

inside and flipped the light switch by the door. Nothing. The electric company must

have shut the power off. That would happen when you didn't pay your bill. Something

Hyde was well acquainted with-at least it wasn't winter yet. He could remember plenty

of frigid nights spent shivering in his bed because Bud had taken off and Edna had

spent all of their money on booze.

Luckily he knew the way to her room by memory. There had been lots of times he

had snuck in when she was still living here and there was a chance her Mom might be

around. He led her up the stairs and into her room. She followed him while he stumbled

around and found the candle on her bedside table. He sniffed it-lavender, his favorite.

God, she was turning him into Fez or Forman. He didn't know which was worse. But

tonight it didn't matter. She needed him and he was going to be there for her. He lit

the candle and looked at her-needing to know she was alright.

He pushed her down on the bed and knelt to take off her shoes. Crap, he couldn't look

at her torn uniform without wanting to go back and rip that assholes head off. He went

to her dresser and rummaged thru it. He found a sweatshirt, which made him pause as

he hadn't ever seen her on one. Of course this one had a freakin' unicorn on it. He

found a pair of pajama bottoms and handed them to her. When she reached out her hands

were shaking so bad he knew there was no way she'd manage on her own. Gently he

helped her out of her uniform, his mouth tightening when he saw the bruise forming on

her thigh and the scratch on her collarbone. He made himself breathe deeply and remember

there would be time for payback later. After all, he know where those jerks went to

school and Kelso could get their names from the cops.

He leant down and kissed her gently. First her lips then the scratch and finally, the

bruise, all while whispering to her.

"It's ok, doll. It's gonna be ok. I'm with you…"

She reached out and putting her hands on his jaw pulled him to her and kissed him

hard. She didn't stop until they were both breathless. What the hell, he thought and

pulled back to look at her. She didn't look as scared anymore and her hands were no

longer shaking. The contact seemed to have reassured her somehow. Maybe if he held

her she would be even better but she had other ideas. Or so it seemed when she reached

around and unhooked her bra.

"Jackie," he rasped. She wasn't making it easy for him to be a good boyfriend.

"Please, Steven" she whispered. "I need you. I need…" she looked confused as if she

was'nt sure quite what she needed but he had a pretty good idea of what might make

her feel better.

It was something they hadn't done before but not because he didn't want to. He'd

had several dreams about it. Very hot, very frustrating dreams of him with his face

buried in her hot wet pussy. Maybe this would be what they both needed tonight.

Considering she had gone out with Kelso who was such a horndog and she read

Cosmo religiously she was surprisingly naïve. He thought her shyness about sex was

cute. Especially since he was always able to talk her into trying different stuff. In

fact he liked being the one to initiate her. It made her seem more exclusively his and

watching her react to the things he came up with was sexy as hell.

Maybe it was selfish but if it made her forget for awhile about what had happened to her tonight that was a good thing, right? It helped when she scooted back on her bed and gave

him a little smile.

Still, he had to be certain. "Are you sure, doll?"

She nodded so he crawled up the length of the bed and gathered her in his arms. He

pulled what was left of her ponytail loose and ran his fingers thru the long silky strands.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. She sighed and slid down, pulling him on

top of her. He pressed his growing erection against her and she reached down to fondle

it thru his jeans. He kissed her neck then her breasts, liking and sucking the nipples

until she was moaning softly.

That was another thing he loved about this girl. As loud as she could be, what with

all the talking and everything, she was very quiet in bed. Her little moans and sighs

were whisper soft and turned him on to no end. She would call out his name and on

occasion say something dirty but mostly she was pretty quiet, letting her body do all

the talking. And it was talking plenty to him now. In a language only he understood.

He took his time stroking and kissing his way down her rib cage and taut stomach

where he dipped his tongue into her bellybutton, which made her giggle. He pressed his

lips to her abdomen and then lower, kissing her in her most intimate spot. She squirmed

a little but her legs opened further, which he took as an invitation to continue. Heart

pumping and his dick almost throbbing when she moaned his name, he slid his hands

under her ass and lifted her to his mouth. He slowly stroked her clit with his tongue then pulled on it gently. God, she was wet and breathing hard-"Steven, oh my god". She arched

her back when he sucked on the nub and her breath caught in her throat. He knew she close

so he slid a finger into her and then another. All while teasing her with his tongue. Her

hips bucked suddenly and she buried her hands in his hair while she bore down on his

hand.

"God, Steven! Please! I want you inside of me," she was nearly panting now. He

quickly tugged his jeans and boxers down while she writhed on the bed. The candle

light flickered over her, casting shadows across her beautiful face-and her perfect

little body. He slid into her, hands wrapped around her hips. God, she was hot, tight

and ready for him. Her inner walls fluttered wildly around him and she grabbed his ass

with both hands, pulling him even further into her. She didn't last long, clenching around

him and crying out as he pounded into her over and over again. Face buried in her hair

he lost his rhythm and with final, fierce thrust he came as hard as he ever had.

When he came down several moments later he looked down at her. He knew he had to

say something about what had happened to her .He couldn't bring himself to pull out

of her just yet so he raised himself on his elbows and looking into her topaz eyes, he

kissed her.

"Jackie. I'm so sorry about tonight-at the game. If I had been there sooner, it never would

have happened."

Tears glistened in her eyes but she blinked them back. When she didn't say anything he

knew she agreed. He felt like a complete jerk. He had no excuse for not showing up sooner.

He just didn't want her to think she could tell him what to do and when to do it. The

thing is the games were always fun and he liked to watch her cheer. Even before they had started going out. But because he was a stubborn paranoid ass his girl had almost been gang raped. It made him sick to think of her being hurt and him not being there to stop it.

"I promise I'll never miss another game. I'll be there whenever you cheer," he kissed

her softly. It wasn't like he didn't want to be with her and he would do whatever it took

to keep her safe.

"Oh, Steven," she smiled and snuggled against him. It wasn't long before she fell asleep.

He liked to think that what they had done together was what wore her out. It had been

pretty fucking amazing.

When she woke during the night, trembling, he knew she was reliving her ordeal and that

she would need him until she felt safe again. He stroked her hair, promising to always take

care of her and never let anyone hurt her.

"I'm here, Jackie. I'm with you," he whispered, holding her tight.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Sorry for any errors. I'm trying to get this out quickly. Please let me know if you are reading this and what you think. There will be language and smut. Yeah for smut! This is Jackie and Hyde after all-who I do not own, of course.

As Hyde looked at Jackie standing in only her panties on the pier he felt a stab of shame that he

hadn't kept that promise. In fact, he had been the one who hurt her the most. She must have seen

something in his eyes because she put her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him.

"Don't," she whispered.

"Don't what?" he asked harshly, pulling her closer.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. We can't change the past."

She had always been able to read him better than anyone else. As much as it had annoyed him at

times there was something to be said for it now. It saved him from having to divulge every thought

but he couldn't help but think he was a coward for not saying what she needed to hear.

"Let it go. I have," she said and he saw the truth of it in her face. The old Jackie would have been

lording it over him, taunting him with how much he wanted her and how he had screwed things up.

This Jackie was making no demands on him. She wanted to be with him and God, he wanted to

be with her too.

There was so much he wanted to say to her but it could wait. Her warm little body against his

was too damn distracting and he wanted her so badly. He noticed she was shaking-shivering

actually. It had cooled off to the point that there was mist rising off the lake in wispy tendrils.

"Wait here," he said and fishing the camaro keys out of his pants pocket he opened the trunk.

Like the good boyscout he was Bradley had a box of emergency supplies stashed inside. Hyde

grabbed the blanket and brought it back to the pier.

He would like to take her someplace else but he was afraid if they left this place the spell would

be broken. She would wonder what the hell she was doing with her loser ex-boyfriend and he'd

never get a chance to tell her how much he had missed her.

Besides, it wasn't as if they could go to her place-an apartment she shared with Bradley or to

his room at the Forman's. Geez, why hadn't he gotten his own place by now? It wasn't like he

could'nt afford it. "Grooves" was doing really well and he had actually stashed quite a bit of

money away. He told himself that Kitty would just miss him too much now that Eric lived in

Madison but he suspected the real reason was that he would be leaving the only real home he

had ever known-and that he would have to admit it was time to grow up.

He had to give Jackie credit for moving on, even though he didn't like that it was with someone

other than him. He had been stuck in a rut for so long he didn't know how to get out. It seemed he was unable to move forward without looking back and when he looked back all he saw was the mess he had made of his life.

God, he really had fucked things up and he couldn't blame anyone but himself. Not that he hadn't

tried. He could recite from memory all the people he blamed. First there was Bud for being a drunken asshole, then Edna for being a whore and abandoning him. More recently there was Eric

for going to Africa, Jackie for giving him an ultimatum, Kelso for being in her hotel room in Chicago and finally Sam for marrying a wasted stranger. Funny how nothing was ever his fault.

He had suspected for a long time that most of the responsibility for his mistakes lay with him but

it was just too easy to blame everyone else. Yeah, he's been dealt a bad hand when he got Bud and

Edna for parents but on the other hand, the Forman's had taken him in and treated him like their

own. As far as the rest of it, maybe if he had reacted differently things would have turned out better.

Maybe if he hadn't been so defensive, so cynical, so unwilling to bend. Actually there was no maybe about it.

Looking at Jackie wrapped up in the blanket and leaning against him as they sat on the pier he

knew that if he had only met her halfway maybe they would have made it.

"Jackie, I'm sorry-for so many things. Red is right-I am a dumbass," he spoke quietly. Without

his shades he felt especially vulnerable but he looked in her eyes. A soft smile on her mouth she pressed a finger to his lips.

"Ssshhh," she whispered. "I understand you."

The exact same words she had spoken to him all those years ago when they were just kids. He'd scoffed at her then, "Oh, you do, do you?" but the fact of the matter was she did understand him.

She always had and maybe that was what had scared him the most. Maybe that was why he had

pushed her away so many times. Even when he was happier than he had ever been he had held

back, afraid to admit how much it meant that this girl-this crazy, annoying, smart, funny, beautiful

girl loved him. If he admitted he loved her he might lose her-like everything else in his life.

He leaned towards her, unable and unwilling to stop himself. She met him halfway-like she

always had-and their lips met. Tongues touching, darting and twisting together his heart beat

like crazy against his chest and when they pulled apart there was a light in her eyes.

"So, did you feel anything?" she asked, just like she had that night on the hood of her Daddy's

Lincoln. This time he wasn't going to lie.

"Yeah, I felt something," and he kissed her again.

"Me too," she sighed against his mouth.

They fell back against the wooden slats of the pier, the blanket falling away and revealing her exquisite body in the pale moonlight. Leaning down he touched his lips to her collarbone-to the

valley between her breasts then to the peaks of her nipples, taking one into his mouth and teasing

the other with his fingers. When her head fell back he moved to kiss the soft skin of her neck.

Her hands rose to grasp his shoulders, running over the hard muscle there then down his chest

and around to his back. His own hands traveled down to her little waist, her hips and then to her

thighs. He parted them gently and kissed his way to the soft folds between them. She sighed and

pushed her fingers into his unruly curls while his tongue swirled around her clit. He slid a finger

into her and pulled the tender flesh into his mouth, flicking it back and forth with his tongue.

She gasped and it all came back to him-it was instinct really- what she liked. He gave it to her until she was panting and pushing herself against his mouth.

"Steven, please," she moaned.

"Yeah, doll?" he grinned. God, she was wet.

Her slanted amber eyes glittered up at him, like a cat in the dark. "You know what I want," she

said in her old bossy voice which made him want to laugh.

"Ask me nicely," he murmured against her hipbone. He laughed when she swatted weakly at his head. He pushed another finger into her and she grabbed his hair, tugging until he looked up at her.

There was laughter and desire in her face.

"Steven-puddin' pop-please. Pretty please, fuck me," she whispered, bottom lip plumping out .

Not that he would ever refuse her but when she used her old pet name for him and she looked

like that-no fuckin' way could he deny her. He slowly eased his fingers out of her and brought them to his mouth, licking them slowly while she watched.

"Damn baby, you taste so good," he said, watching her moisten her lips with her pink tongue.

"Steven, stop teasing me. I want you. Now," again that demanding tone which took him back to

all the times he would torment her just to get her riled up. It was as fun now as it had been then.

Maybe even more so because it had been so long and she was even sexier now, if that was possible.

He raised himself up on his elbows and grasping his cock he brushed the tip against her wetness. They both groaned. He entered her slowly-inch by inch-until he was fully sheathed in her. Kissing

his chest and his neck she grabbed his ass and rolled her hips. Already he could feel her muscles

clenching around him.

"Fuck, Jackie," he groaned. "You're so tight" and he thrust into her. She met and matched the

slow steady pace he set but knew she wouldn't be able to last for long. It felt so good having him

inside her again. Unbelievably good. Only Steven had ever made her feel this way. When he

quickened the pace she held on as long as she could. Until the tremors started and her heart beat

frantically in her ears. Gasping she clutched at him wildly, tightening her legs around his whispered his name.

It was all he needed to send him over the edge. Thrusting furiously he felt her constrict around him almost painfully. The friction between them was incredible. The next thing he knew he was laying on top of her, hands still locked on her hips, buried deep in her and breathing harshly in her ear.

Honest to God, it was like an out of body experience except that he was totally aware of his body-and hers. Sex had always been incredible with her but tonight, he was willing to admit it wasn't just the physical act or the way they fit together so perfectly. It wasn't just about the sex. It was her and the way she made him feel- really fuckin' feel. Everything -all of it. Every emotion he'd ever had was all tangled up and tied to her and he didn't think that was ever going to change. He loved her. He always would and there was no way around it. No reason to deny or fight it anymore. Now he only had to convince her to give them another chance because no way was tonight going to be enough. He had a feeling-as Formanesque as it was-that forever would never be enough with her.


	11. Chapter 11

Wrapped up together in the blanket neither one of them spoke for awhile. It was enough to just

hold each other. The moon glinted silver on the lake and shone in her eyes. He kissed her and

watched them drift shut as her arms wrapped around his neck.

He put everything he had into that kiss, hoping she could tell how he felt about her. As hard as

it might be he knew he needed to say it. Jackie was a very verbal person-she liked to say and hear things, even though she had a very strong sense of intuition. She had always seemed to know what he was feeling. Hell, sometimes she knew even before he did but one of his biggest regrets was not talking to her when he should have, when it was important. Like now.

"I didn't want you to leave," he said, tilting her face up and kissing her nose. Her eyes slowly

opened.

"What?"

"When you left for Chicago. I didn't want you to go. I just didn't know how to tell you. Then

when I finally got the balls to come after you-there was Kelso. I know," he stopped her from

talking by kissing her. "I know nothing happened between you. But I was just so mad and you

know me…"

"You do stupid things when you're mad," she said quietly.

He sat up and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping the blanket around them.

"Hell, yeah. What could be stupider than marrying someone you don't even know?"

"Staying married to her?"

Damn, she was quick and she hadn't lost her ability to burn him. Especially when he deserved

it. He laughed harshly.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I was hurting and I knew it would hurt you if I

let her stay."

She nodded but didn't say anything which surprised the hell out of him. Even though she had

said earlier that she had let it go there had to be something she wanted to say about the whole stripper wife thing, right? Some residual anger left. He cleared his throat and she glanced at him.

"I want you to know that if I could take it all back, I would. Not just marrying her but everything

that led up to it. And afterwards too. I was a fuckin' prick to you."

She nodded again, still silent. It was starting to piss him off. Here he was spilling his guts, as much as he was able to, and she wasn't responding. The old Jackie would have been on a rampage by

now, yelling or crying. Probably both actually. But this Jackie just stared out across the lake,

holding onto his arm which was wrapped around her waist.

"Of course, she was a stripper…" he drawled and her eyes flashed. Good, that provoked a

reaction out of her.

"Yeah, she was a skank," she snapped.

He grinned, "That's true."

"And you never loved her," she said, watching his face now.

"Also true," he nodded.

"It should have been me. You should have married me," her voice was soft and sad.

"And that's the truest thing of all," he said, feeling like a girl or Forman but she needed to know

she was right. She moved so that she was straddling his lap. Nice but distracting.

"Listen, Steven. This has been the craziest day. I was supposed to get married today and here I

am with my ex-boyfriend, who screwed me over for a stripper…"

"Hey, I thought you were over that," he grumbled.

"This is me being over it, Steven. I listened to you. Now will you listen to me?"

He sighed. This could take awhile and her gorgeous legs wrapped around his hips was seriously

disrupting his ability to pay attention to what she was saying. He took a deep breath.

"I'm listening, doll."

Taking his face in her small hands she looked into his eyes. God, his eyes were so beautiful but

she couldn't let them divert her from what she needed to say.

"All my life I thought I was a Princess. My parents told me I was pretty and they taught me to believe in fairy tales and happily ever after. They gave me whatever I wanted. I guess I was

spoiled," she stopped when he snorted and gave him a stern look.

" I think they just gave me stuff so I wouldn't notice they were never around. Michael told

me I was special but he cheated on me all the time. Then there was you-and I loved you so much.

I thought we would be together forever. But we know how that turned out, don't we?" she

frowned, unable to keep the bitter edge out of her voice.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I haven't believed in fairy tales for a long time. When

Jake came along it was like maybe I'd get another chance at the castle and Prince Charming."

Hyde felt a flash of what he knew was jealousy. He'd always been possessive of her, even

when he no longer had the right to be.

"Remember when I was your knight in shining armor?" he traced a path down her cheek with

his fingertip.

"But you never wanted to be," she said.

"That's not true. It was actually kind of cool to be that guy. I just wasn't any good at it."

"You were when you tried," she smiled. "But there is no Prince Charming. It turns out Jake is

just a really nice guy that I tried to love and ended up hurting. There is no knight in shining armor

anymore either."

He felt his heart jerk in his chest, like he was flying down the highway in the Camino and hit

the brakes hard, skidding sideways. Was she saying she didn't believe in him anymore? "What do you mean ?"

She looked up at him and shrugged. "You probably won't believe it but I don't want the fairy

tale anymore."

A year ago he would have told her that was bullshit but a year ago he was married to a woman

he didn't know or love. A year ago he and Jackie weren't even speaking to each other unless it

was to cut each other down. He had been really nasty to her and he felt like shit about it. If he

was lucky she would let him make it up to her. Maybe now was a good time to start.

"Then what do you want, Jackie?" he asked, pulling her closer. She rested her head in the crook

of his neck.

"I don't know what I want right now. It's enough that you're here."

"Who are you and what have you done with Jackie?" he half-joked, shaking her a little.

She laughed and he could feel it against his chest. It was the best feeling in the world-besides

holding her and kissing her and fucking her and a hundred other things she made him feel.

"I know, right? Jackie Burkhardt always wants something, doesn't she?"

"Maybe it isn't so much about wanting as it is about needing," he suggested. She popped up

from the warmth of his body.

"Wow, Steven, that's really deep."

"Get bent," he grumbled. She laughed and wrapped her arms around him.

"Seriously, Jackie. What do you need?" he murmured against her sweet smelling hair. It was

weird but now that she wasn't demanding anything from him he wanted to give her everything-

himself included. Whatever would make her happy, whatever she needed.

She sighed, "Right now, I just need this-you. Here."

A year or two ago that would have been perfect. It would have been all his stupid teenage self

wanted-to live in the present and not worry about the future. Because the future could seriously

fuck you up, if you let it.

But now, after the hell that was Chicago and the year without her, living in the present wasn't enough for him. Funny how their positions had reversed. She had always pinned her hopes on

the future and he had wanted to live only in the present. Maybe they could meet in the middle

'cause he needed to know they were going to be together. That she would be his forever. God,

that was pretty intense and so foreign to him it was a little scary. Almost as if she'd read his

mind she spoke.

"I don't need you to promise me forever, Steven. I just need to know that you loved me."

There was so much behind what she said –so much pain-that he almost couldn't answer her.

God, he had never meant to hurt her so much that she doubted what he had felt for her or that

she didn't believe in forever anymore. This girl who deserved "forever" more than anyone.

Authors Note: We are almost done-just one chapter and an epilogue left. Hope you are enjoying it-

please review. It would mean a lot!


	12. Chapter 12

Authors Note: Hope you are enjoying my little story. Just an epilogue left after this chapter.

I don't own but a girl can dream! If you are reading, please review!

"Damn it, Jackie. I did love you. I still do," he confessed, freaked out by the distant look in

her eyes and how she had gone tense in his arms. "Doll, look at me."

flashback

She was remembering all the times she had told him she loved him and all he would say was

"that's cool" in that frustrating zen way he had. Occasionally he might say "me too" but mostly

he would just show her. Steven was a man of action, not words. It was him holding her hand in

the hallway at school, pulling her down on his lap in Eric's basement or slugging Michael when

he came on to her. It was him beating the crap out of that creep under the bleachers, shaving his

beard for her or insisting she sleep with him when her parents left, even if it meant pissing Red off.

Best of all was when he made love to her. He could call it whatever he wanted but she knew there

was no way sex could be so perfect and beautiful without love being involved. Yet despite all the

ways he showed her he cared she had still been hung up on hearing him say it.

"Words are cheap," he would say.

"You would know! Cheap is your middle name," she'd reply or something equally bitchy. They

would argue about it but most of the time he would just give her that sexy smirk and she'd have

to jump his bones, no matter where they were.

Tonight he had not only shown he cared by basically stealing Jake's car and getting her away

from the humiliation of being left at the altar but by listening to her. Best of all, he had held

her and made her feel like she mattered to him again-that she was special. The most amazing

thing was that he was saying the words. There was just one more thing she thing she needed

to know.

"Steven, why would you let me marry someone else if you still love me?"

He looked at her the way he looked at Kelso when he did something especially stupid. He shook

his head and reminded himself that she needed to hear it even if it should be obvious.

"Geez, Jackie, why do you think? 'Cause you deserve better than me and I-I want you to be happy."

Watching her, he saw the smile start in her eyes and spread over her beautiful face. Her hands

came up to his chest where they rested against his heart.

"Oh, Steven! You do love me!"

He nodded and smiled that rare sweet smile he gave only to her. He took her small hands in his.

"Yeah, doll. I do and just so you know…"

She was squirming excitedly on his lap, her bare bottom pressing against his growing erection.

He held her tighter, partly to settle her down but mostly because it felt good, having her back in

his arms.

"Yes, baby?" she nuzzled his neck and damn if he didn't feel it everywhere.

"Knock it off, will ya? I wanna tell you something ," he growled in her ear "and I'm only gonna

say it once."

That got her to stop wiggling but her eyes were laughing at him, "Yes, puddin?"

"You know my idea of happily ever after is a six pack, a joint and my girl sitting on my lap. If we

had all that and a house with a couple of kids running around some day-well, it wouldn't suck. You

said you don't want the fairy tale anymore but I wanna give it to you."

She smiled and let him continue, which he did after clearing his throat. She used to say he did

that whenever he was nervous. Well, she was right but it was time to man up.

"Jackie, you say you don't need me to promise forever but I want to, more than anything. You're

it for me, doll. You always will be. I'm with you," his voice was low and rough. "Only you."

Tears glistened in her eyes but she was still smiling. He figured that was a good thing.

"Now I can't promise I won't be a jackass from time to time," he said.

"You are stubborn," she nodded.

"And I can't promise we won't fight."

"Why stop when we do it so well?" she asked.

He grinned, "I sure as hell can't promise you won't need to kick me in the shins now and then."

"I can do that," she agreed.

His lips were against her cheek and she could feel that he was smiling. His voice was low and

serious when he spoke, sending a frisson of excitement up her spine.

"But I can promise that I will try to listen before losing my temper and I will let you talk as much

as I can stand before I tell you to shut your pie hole. I promise to let you play your damn disco

records on my stereo-when I'm not home. And I promise not to complain if we have fettuccine

every night for dinner."

They grinned at each other and he said, "And I promise to fuck the hell out of you whenever,

wherever you want, doll."

By now she was laughing, little puffs of air against his cheek.

"But, Jackie…" his arms tightened around her.

"Yeah?"

"Most of all I promise you'll never have to wonder if I love you 'cause I'm gonna tell you

everyday."  
"Oh, Steven," her eyes shone and her smile was tender. She lay her cheek against his shoulder.

They sat in silence for awhile, just holding each other. As much as his girl could talk she knew

when to appreciate a moment.

"We have so much to talk about," she finally spoke. "Like, for example, how am I going to tell Grandma Bradley that I threw her diamond tiara from Tiffany's in the lake?"

"Tiffany's? Christ, Jackie," he cursed.

"Ssshhh, it's my turn to talk," she nudged him. He rolled his eyes, which made her laugh.

"Get used to it," she said, which made him grin. God, he'd missed her.

"Like I said, we have so much to talk about, and we will, but right now I want you to know that

I will take whatever you can give me , Steven. You love me-and that's enough."

He stared at her for a long while. It seemed they had both grown up some and learned a lot along

the way. He wasn't stupid enough to think it was going to be all sunshine and rainbows but that

was the thing about Jackie. Even when things were rough, she made it worthwhile. With her he could entertain the idea that maybe fairy tales and rainbows were ok. Girly but ok, as long as it made her happy and if that didn't make him sound like freakin' Forman, nothing did.

"Stop staring at me or I'll kick you," she teased.

He stood, with her in his arms. "Try it doll and I'll throw you in the lake. Maybe you can look for

my shades while you're in there" and he swung her out over the water. She shrieked and clutched

at him, nails digging into his shoulders.

"Steven! Don't you dare!" she screeched.

Laughing he set her on her feet and pulled her tight against him. They kissed thru the laughter until

the passion that had never faded between them-and never would- flared white hot. When they broke for air there was an unholy light in her eyes.

"Puddin' Pop?" She reached between them and grasped his growing hard on.

"Yeah, doll?" he groaned.

"Do you remember what you promised me?" she was stroking him now and he could barely think.

"Yeah-what?" he said.

She whispered in his ear, her voice all breathy "You know, about fucking the hell out of me whenever I want? Remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," he groaned, louder this time. Jesus, her hand felt so good on him.

"Steven, I want-now," she whispered, sounding imploring and bossy at the same time. He didn't know how she did it but he loved it. When he didn't reply she tugged on his earlobe with her teeth and her bottom lip jutted out. "Please, you promised, didn't you?"

God, he loved this girl.

"Hell yeah," he said and made good on his promise. Something he intended to do for the rest of

his life.

.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors Note: I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed my little story.

I had so much fun writing it and I hope you enjoyed it! Here we go

with the epilogue. Let me know what you think. Jackie & Hyde 4ever!

Eric stumbled down the stairs from his old bedroom, a yawning Donna a few steps behind him.

His head was pounding and his stomach was growling and all he wanted was an aspirin and break-

fast in that order.

"God, what a night," his lady love said as they crossed the living room to the kitchen. Eric nodded.

It had been a hell of a day-and night, what with Jackie's wedding getting called off at the last minute.

They had all gone to the reception or whatever you wanted to call it since there was no bride or

groom present. But there was no way they could let all the food and drink go to waste so they ate

and enjoyed the open bar. Hell, they had even danced to the dj, despite his playing an awful lot of disco.

Even though she wasn't there Jackie's presence was certainly felt-from the music, to the devilled

egg appetizers, the pink champagne and the banner proclaiming "Congratulations Jackie and Jake"

hanging over the three tiered wedding cake decorated with pink roses.

Kelso stripped the banner down and shouted that this was a "congratulations for not ever getting

married" party, which pissed Brooke off. He spent the rest of the night trying to pacify her.

Fez spent the night trying to decide which was sexier-Big Rhonda's newly svelte shape or the

banquet table. Lucky for him Big Rhonda still enjoyed a free meal so he ended up with her and

a gut ache from too much cake and champagne.

Jake's family made a brief appearance, apologized for the unfortunate turn of events and left, which

was just as well because the whole thing was really awkward and Red Forman hated awkward.

Kitty was fluttering nervously among the guests, trying to make sure everyone had a good time.

She was drinking way too many brandy old fashions and laughing too loudly. You would think

the Burkhardt girl was her own kid, the way she kept apologizing for Jackie not being there.

She had always thought of Eric's friends as her babies. Certainly she was more of a mother to

Jackie than Pam, who was hanging on Bob's arm at the bar, pounding tequila shots like it was

Cinco de Mayo in CanCun.

Eric and Donna had a few beers and wondered where the hell Jackie was. She had said she would come but it was getting late and there was no sign of her. Donna was getting worried and suggested they drive back to the church.

"Don't worry, Donna. She probably remembered she's already Satan's bride and had to get back to Hell where they celebrate with really crappy disco music and …"

"Knock it off, Eric. Where could she be? She didn't have a car-hey, I haven't seen Hyde either.

There's no way he would miss free beer and a chance to burn Jackie."

Finding the church dark and locked up for the night Eric turned the Vista Cruiser back towards

the reception hall.

"The last time I saw Hyde was when he brought Jake back to the church. He said the least Jake could do was man up and talk to Jackie. He was going to light up in Jake's car," Eric had to laugh at that.

Donna was quiet until they got back to the reception hall.

"I don't know, Eric. The whole thing is strange. Jackie is missing. Hyde's gone. I just have this weird feeling."

"A creepy and unnatural feeling?" he asked in a foreboding voice, turning the car off.

Donnas' red again hair wiped around as she faced him, fists clenched to her chin. "Oh my god!

Yes! Eric, what if? What are we going to do?"

She was acting all freaked out but he could see the laughter in her gray eyes. She was so the

girl for him.

"Find the nearest bomb shelter and wait it out? Or here's a radical idea," he raised his index finger.

"Hope it works out and wish them well?"

She smiled. He was such a doofus but he was her doofus. " As crazy as it seems they really are

perfect for each other," she shrugged.

"Who would have ever thought," Eric slipped into a surprisingly good imitation of Hyde's raspy

voice. "The orphan boy and the cheerleader. Mr. and Mrs. Jackie Hyde."

She laughed, "Let's not go that far yet! The tin cans and old shoes are probably still tied to Jake's

bumper."

They weren't but only because Hyde had ripped them off and thrown them in the lake, to join

Grandma Bradleys' tiara and his beloved aviators. But Donna and Eric didn't know that or where

the other couple could be so they rejoined the reception and took advantage of the open bar.

Eric walked into the kitchen thru the swinging door and nearly bumped into his mother, standing

at the stove bleary eyed with a spatula in her hand. He kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, Mom."

"Eric, honey, ssshhh," she whispered but winced when Red threw the patio door open with a bang,

the Sunday paper clutched in his hand.

"Why the hell is there a camaro parked in my driveway?" he demanded.

Eric and Donnas' eyes met and they both rushed for the basement door. Despite being hung over Kitty beat them there and she clambered down the stairs. Rolling his eyes Red followed and nearly

plowed into the others when Kitty stopped at the bottom of the stairs and bent over to pick something up off the floor.

"Oh my goodness! Jackie's wedding dress! What is it doing here?" Her eyes widened and she

dashed for the bedroom in the back corner of the basement.

Hyde's bedroom door flew open and they all stumbled in.

"Oh my god!" Mrs. Forman yelled then cringed at how loud her own voice was in her ears.

Jackie stirred in Hyde's arms and peered up at everyone. "What are you all doing in Stevens'

room?"

"I think we should be asking you that very same thing, missy," Eric waggled his finger at her.

"Eric, honey-hush!" Kitty pleaded, fingers pressing on her temples.

"Yeah, Jackie. What's going on?" Donna asked, arms folded across her chest but she couldn't

keep the smile out of her voice.

Jackie nudged a sleeping Hyde with her bare shoulder. "Puddin' Pop, we've got company."

"Puddin' Pop?" Donna and Eric both grinned and broke into laughter.

Hyde opened his eyes to see the Forman's and Donna staring down at him and Jackie. Shit,

couldn't a guy and his girl get some sleep after the crazy, incredible night they'd had? Maybe

it was time he got his own place. Mrs. Forman looked pale but there was a big smile on her

face. Red, on the other hand, looked furious.

"So, Steven, what do you have to say?" he demanded.

"Uh-good morning?" Hyde said and tightened his arm around Jackie.

"Good morning, my ass!" Red thundered, waving a rolled up newspaper at them. "All I

wanted today was to have a nice breakfast and read my paper. Instead I have to deal with you

two and this dumbass," he jerked his thumb at Eric, who shook his head, confused as to what

he could have done to piss his Dad off so early in the morning.

"Hey-hey! This isn't about me! Hyde's the one with a girl in his room! A naked girl, if I'm not

mistaken!"

"What are you-twelve, Forman?" Hyde sneered.

"No, he's right, Steven. I warned you before about having the loud one sleeping over," Red groused.

Jackie smiled like the cat that ate the canary. There hadn't been a lot of sleeping going on. Eric

saw her smirk and shuddered.

She felt Hyde's chuckle against her back but she kept her pie hole shut, which impressed him so much he kissed her chek.

"Awww," Donna and Mrs. Forman chorused. Jackie giggled.

"Can it!" Red and Hyde said in unison, which made Eric snicker and earn another glare from

his father.

"Now listen you two," Red lowered his voice and waved a finger in Hyde and Jackie's direction.

"I don't care if you are back together. In fact, I'm not surprised. Some people just belong together.

Like me and Kitty."

"Oh, Red!" his wife wrapped her arms around his waist. Hyde grinned. The old man was a master

and he could learn a thing or two from him.

"Mr. Forman, that's so sweet!" Jackie gushed, her hand pressed against her heart.

"It's not sweet. It's the truth," he barked. God forbid anyone think he was sweet. Mr. Forman

and her puddin' pop were a lot alike.

"It is kind of sweet, Red," Kitty winked up at him and squeezed him.

"Never mind that now, Kitty." he said with a look that told her she could remind him about it

later. "I was talking to these two idiots. So, Steven, if you two are going to be-you know-I can't

stop you. But not in my house, you don't." Red waved Kitty off when she started to protest.

"No, Kitty. It's time. He's a grown man and I want all of these dumbasses out of my house."

Hyde caught the smirk Red threw his way and he nodded. "First thing Monday morning, Red.

Jackie and I will look for a place together."

"Oh, Steven!" Jackie squealed and turned in his arms to hug his neck.

"This is going to be interesting," Donna said as she followed Red out of the basement.

Kitty was clutching her hands together and smiling thru her tears at them. She bent down and

kissed both of their heads. "We just love you both so much! Come up for breakfast soon," and she hurried upstairs. She'd forgotten about the bacon cooking on the stove and Red would be mad if it

was burnt.

"Did you want something, Forman?" Hyde squinted up at Eric. Jackie was sliding her smooth

thigh between his and his moron best friend was standing there staring at them.

"Hyde, are you naked?" Eric grinned, just as Hyde had said to him all those years ago when

Red had caught Jackie in Hyde's bed and Eric had only a sheet wrapped around himself.

"Get bent and get the hell outta here, man" he threw a pillow at his nerdy friend.

"But,Hyde-she's the devil," Eric whined but only half-heartedly.

Jackie was too busy sucking on Stevens' neck to respond so she gave Eric the finger instead.

Eric laughed, "I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, my friend."

"I know exactly what I'm getting myself into," Hyde smirked, grabbing Jackie's amazing

ass under the blanket. She squealed. Eric made a gagging noise and fled, slamming the door

behind him.

Hyde looked down into the beautiful amber eyes of the only girl he would ever love. "Damn,

Jackie. Flippin' Forman off was so badass."

"He deserved it," she snapped, going from bitch to angel in the blink of an eye as she smiled

sweetly at him. God, it turned him on when she did that.

"I love you, doll," he murmured into her ebony hair, lifting her hips and sliding into her with one swift stroke.

She gasped. Clutching his shoulders she whispered against his lips. "That's cool."

Grinning, he lightly smacked her rear end. Damn, she was perfect for him. She laughed and wrapped her legs around his hips.

They never did make it upstairs for breakfast.


	14. Chapter 14

Authors Note: I thought I was finished but decided to add this little snippet. Hope you enjoy and as always, reviews are welcome.

The following announcement ran in the Point Place Gazette in June 1983

Jacqueline Burkhardt and Steven Hyde were married Saturday, June 18, 1983 at the

home of the grooms parents, Reginald and Katherine Forman. A small reception was

hosted by the grooms father William Barnett at the Vineyard restaurant in Kenosha.

The bride, a recent graduate of Point Place Community College, is the daughter of Jack and Pamela Burkhardt. The bride will be joining the design firm of Silver Creek Interiors after she and the groom, owner of Grooves Records, return from their honeymoon in

Jamaica. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Dave Rogers. The matron of honor was Donna Pinciotti-Forman and the best man was Eric Forman. The newlyweds began dating in high school and will make their home in Point Place.


End file.
